Indigo Flames
by ChaoticallyInsane
Summary: They say the best outcomes can sprout from the worst situations. Nami Hirasawa wasn't expecting much when things got bad. Though, when she met him, she knew that things could only get better from here. Perhaps that was the reason she couldn't get enough of him. Rin x Oc
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

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 **CHAPTER ZERO**

 **PROLOGUE**

 **"Children have to be educated, but they also have to be left to educate themselves."  
\- Abbe Dimnet**

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 **HIRASAWA NAMI DIDN'T** know if it was physically possible to hate anything more than what she was doing right now: packing up her bags.

She told herself that she could have done it the night before they were supposed to be leaving; it would have made things easier. Though, she was too much of a procrastinator for that. The previous night have been spent doing irrelevant things, none of which had anything to do with her luggage. This led to her staying up all night . . . which was a big mistake in itself. This became apparent to her as she rushed out of her futon, cleaned herself up, and shoved her best articles of clothing into her black suitcase. When it didn't fit, she jumped on it, zipping it shut with a loud huff. They had to be out of here in an hour.

Her hands gripped onto the suitcase to pull it out of her bedroom, and down the stairs of her parents' house. It was only a few months ago that Japan had almost been consumed by a dark force. One of the darkest forces of all. She didn't know too much about it—she didn't want to. She _did_ remember being locked underground with her family during the mess. That was all of the information she needed.

Demons.

Her father had often told her stories about those make-believe creatures when she was younger. But, now, she was coming to the conclusion that they weren't so make-believe. They were real and strong enough to force people to evacuate from their homes. That was why her father was making her leave.

He didn't want her anymore. Well, at this house, at least. He said that he was sending her somewhere safe. Far away from the things that threatened to take the things she loved the most.

There was a small girl standing at the bottom of the staircase. Her bright green eyes were fixed on Nami's, her long, platinum blonde locks pulled into a neat ponytail. Nami almost glared at the girl. Unlike her, she must have been preparing for their departure since last week. The blonde stepped aside to reveal the two bright suitcases behind her. Nami looked down at her single one. _Of course_.

"Good morning, Nami," the girl greeted with a large grin.

Nami tugged her suitcase down the stairs, grumbling, "Morning, Asaki . . ."

Fujimori Asaki had been staying in her house for a week now. Her mother, Nami's aunt, had agreed on it. It was that day months ago that Asaki's father was lost to the warfare between humans and demons. Because of that, her mother and Nami's father decided to send the blonde with her younger cousin. Not that Nami minded. At least she was taking someone familiar to her.

When her feet touched the last step, the suitcase clunking behind her, she noticed a figure bend down to pick up Asaki's luggage. The white hair and green eyes were instantly noticeable. Nami called out to him, and he glanced over at her. His narrow eyes narrowed even more in questioning. However, when her arms reached high above her head, her mouth opening wide to release a yawn, he practically rolled his eyes.

"Dad, are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean—"

"You mean that you pulled an all-nighter, you only got two hours of sleep _max_ , you're sleepy, and you want to stay in bed?" His raspy, aged voice cut her off.

She parted her lips to protest, but she couldn't. He had hit the nail right on the head. He was correct.

Knowing that he won, he smirked. "Nami, you're sixteen now. You can't keep doing these irresponsible things. You two go get in the car. We're going to be late."

Asaki grinned wider; if that was possible. "Okay, Ojisan!"

"I told you to stop calling me that! I'm not old, damn it!"

Nami didn't say anything while Asaki and her father gathered the last of their things and left the house. Her mother was standing at the doorway; she always did when someone was leaving for a long period of time. Nami walked over to the dark-haired woman, streaks of gray intertwining into her short strands, and waited. Waited for her mother to beg her to stay. The woman wiped her wet hands on her blue apron . . . pulling it down a bit in the process to reveal her large cleavage. Nami wanted to sweat drop. This lady never did like covering those huge things up even if it was a sad time like this one.

"Seriously, Mama," was all that Nami could managed to get out.

Her mother sheepishly scratched the back of her head. She knew she was ticking her daughter off. Nami shouldn't have expected any different. Old habits die hard.

Before she could rant about how the woman was almost forty and shouldn't be wearing such tight shirts, her mother threw her arms around the small girl, almost yanking her ribbon out of her long, white hair. "I'm going to miss you, Nami!" the woman all but wailed.

Nami's green eyes glanced up at the ceiling and sighed. Yup, her mother definitely was a twenty-year-old.

"Make sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, stay away from rabbits because you're allergic to them, drink plenty of water, exercise every day, take care of Asaki, brush your hair every day because you inherited your father's tangly white hair, sadly—"

"Oi!" he snapped from outside.

"Oh, take a joke, Kohaku!"

Nami pulled away from the woman. "Mama, I'm going to a school. I'm going to be fine."

Her mother nodded in understanding. Though she honestly didn't want to, the girls leaving was for the best. They would be safe if such a crisis were to arise again. And, as she stood at the door, watching as Nami, Asaki, and her husband climbed into the car and left, she knew nothing bad would happen. She felt her eyebrow twitch. Nothing bad better happen . . . or she was going to shove her foot up Mephisto's ass.

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 **I couldn't help it. I started a Blue Exorcist story. Keep in mind that this will be taking place a few months after the first season of the anime. Since this was started before the second season began, it will still follow those events. Just with twists and differences. :)**

 **Also, this story is apart of my series of OCs. Each story will have an OC love interest with a -dere personality to them. This story's -dere is :**

 **Tsunshun  
Unlike a Tsundere, Tsunshuns put up a harsh front to protect themselves from pain. These characters will often regret their harsh behaviour afterwards.**

 **~ Insane**


	2. Panda-Eyed Principals

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

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 **Thank you to Inkdawn12 and Moon Devil and Moon Angel for adding this story to your favourites and following it.**

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 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **PANDA-EYED PRINCIPALS**

 **"In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson."  
\- Tom Bodett**

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 **"OKAY, DAD. I'M** pretty sure that you've gotten your point across." Nami sighed for just about the third time. "We get it. You really like this song. Can you please change it to something different now?"

For the past thirty minutes since they had left home, her father had been intent on listening to this one song. It was an old Japanese tune with outdated grammar. The entire time, he hummed the tune, occasionally belting out the lyrics like a madman. Asaki, whom was sitting in the backseat with her cousin's suitcase, appeared to have no problem with it. Nami, on the other hand, wanted to detach her ears from her head.

He had drove through the city as if he had been to their destination a thousand times over. It was toward the more empty side of the city. No one hardly lived in the area. It had once been filled with lively shops and apartment complexes, but now, people had chose to keep a ten foot radius of the place. With every passing second, fewer and fewer people were walking along the cement sidewalks. Nami chose not to question it. Perhaps they were just passing through. There could be nothing this way, and surely not a school that was safer than her home. However, once they exited the tunnel they had drove in, and her father parted his town car in front of giant, iron gates, she felt her stomach drop. He was leaving them _here_.

It was Academy Town. It was the town that harbored a large portion of Tokyo. The town that contained the floating school that people struggled to get into. It was the school of the rich and spoiled. So, why the hell were they here?

His hand reached over to turn off the music. He paid no attention to the white-haired teen shooting him strange looks from the passenger's seat.

Asaki's head was practically leaning out of the window. Her big, emerald eyes were scanning over every edge of the iron gate like it was the most spectacular thing she'd ever seen. And maybe it was, Nami figured. Her deceased father had made sure that the blonde lived a sheltered life. Her sixteen years had been spent walking around her house in homeschooling. It was a terrible thought, but what was worse was the fact that Nami's father had popped the trunk open.

She climbed out of the car and stared as her father began to pull their luggage out, placing it on the sidewalk. Asaki got out, too, wincing when her hair got caught on the seat belt.

"Is this the right place?" she asked her father, and he grunted and nodded in response. "Is this place still running?"

"Sure is," he answered, setting the last suitcase on the ground.

He dusted his hands off against each other for exaggeration. At this, Nami's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. How could he have gotten them in a prestigious academy like this one?

Nonetheless, her father poked her forehead with a smile. "If you keep doing that you'll get wrinkles right here, you know."

"Like _yours_?" she piped back.

"Hey, I'm in my twenties. I do not have wrinkles."

Nami glanced away from him. _Sure he was._

Asaki gripped tightly onto the handles of her two suitcases. "Ojisan, there's a man coming this way," she said in an unsure tone.

Her once excited aura had been suddenly replaced by a nervous one. Even though she looked scared, a grin still adorned her delicate features. Nami envied that about the girl. She lived a quiet, sheltered life. Yet, she was quick to adapt to new situations.

Her father turned around to look at the gates. They slowly opened, and a tall man with purple hair began to stroll out. The man was wearing a flamboyant, white suit and matching top hat. Nami could feel the figurative sweat drop down the side of her face. This couldn't be real. Though, judging by the realistic sway in the man's walk, this was all too real. Her father gave the man a warm smirk which the man returned. The man's dark eyes settled on Asaki—said girl jumping a bit from surprise—and his grin grew wider. Scarily wide.

He reached up to rub his small, pointy beard, stopping in front of them. "Hello! It's about time you got here. You're twenty minutes late."

"It was bad traffic," her father lied.

There was no traffic here.

"Is that so . . ."

Nami couldn't believe any of this. Spontaneous and crazy things such as this one had been happening since that event a year and a half ago. She couldn't quite figure out why this one shocked her the most. Or, for better words, why this one was the craziest to her. The man didn't seem real. He was more than an animated person, playing the role of the nice guy. Eventually, he caught the girl staring; his panda-like eyes bore into hers with enough intensity to make anyone sick. A shiver ran down her spine.

The man stepped close, and leaned down to her height. She could feel her blood run cold. She could tell her face was turning blue. What was this weird guy's problem?

"Is this your niece?" his deep voice questioned her father.

Her father shook her head. "My daughter. Nami, Asaki, this is Mephisto. He's your new principal."

" _Principal_?" the two girls repeated, wide-eyed.

"Correct!" the man belted.

He let out a bellowing laugh at the two girls' slack jaws. He had—no doubt—saw the expression from his students before, judging by the look on his face.

"Welcome to True Cross Academy, Hirasawa-san and Fujimori-san. Please call me Johann Faust the Fifth."

Asaski bowed, unlike Nami, whom had chose to keep staring at the man instead. "Thank you, sir," the blonde said.

The man, Mephisto, or Faust, laughed even louder. "That's a weird kid."

He pointed a finger at Nami, making her glare up at him. His hand moved to pet the girl on the head. She glared harder.

"They're in good hands, Hirasawa. Don't worry about them. I'm pretty sure they'll be following in your footsteps in no time. Yes, what fine exorcists they will become."

Nami finally snapped out of her trance. "A who?"

"Poor children . . ." Mephisto shook his head at her father. "You didn't tell them a thing, did you? That's okay. I love it when they're clueless. Tell daddy-poo goodbye, girls. You're in my care now."

Nami didn't really like the sound of that. Not one bit.

Asaki, ever the positive one of the pair, waved politely to her slightly seething uncle. "Bye bye, Ojisan!" he told him.

The white-haired man's eyebrow twitched at the sentence. He had told them multiple times that he didn't consider himself a middle-aged man. He looked toward his daughter for a more heart-felt goodbye, but instead, he got . . .

"See ya, pops."

He almost collapsed. These girls had no heart for him at all. Sometimes they were the sweetest things in the world. Most of the time, they were like emotionless robots.

Sensing that it was time to leave the three of them on their own, he told them all goodbye, and got ready to leave. He didn't really trust Mephisto watching over his daughter and niece, but he was the best option. Everyone knew that. It was the reason why so many of the exorcists' children went to his school to study. It was a safe place even though the man in charge was high off his rocker. Besides, Mephisto owed him a favor, anyways.

The girls watched as the little town car pulled off, leaving them alone with their new principal. He placed a hand on both of their shoulders. They jumped from the contact. He simply threw his head back in laughter. This was going to be fun.

"Come along, girls," he ordered.

He turned around to walk inside of the giant, iron gates without another word. Nami didn't know what was more creepy. The fact that this guy was going to be watching over them, or the fact that he kept calling them "girls" in that haunting voice of his. Neither sounded appealing.

She was the first to follow after him, grabbing onto the handle of her suitcase and walking. Asaki caught up soon after.

"This is True Cross Academy. You'll find that this is a bit different than your average academy. There are two schools here," Mephisto explained. "There is the regular school, which you two will be attending. Then, there is the exorcist cram school, which you two will also be attending."

"There's that word again. What is an exorcist? You aren't making any sense," Nami interrupted.

Mephisto laughed again. "You are telling me that your father is an exorcist and you still don't know what they are?" he asked.

Nami just stared at the back of his head, seeing as how his long legs were too fast to catch up with. What was this guy talking about?

The campus was beautiful to say the least. Trees lined the stone path to create nice shaded areas. Students in uniform walked to and fro from their classes. None of them paid any attention to the three. The most prominent thing on the campus, though, had to be the many twists and turns. With each path revealed two other ones. It was a good thing that they were with him, or they would have gotten lost . . . as much as she hated to admit it.

"An exorcist is an individual with the abilities to combat demons. Seriously. That's the literally definition," Mephisto explained. "Hirasawa placed you girls here to become exorcists. It's hilarious that he didn't explain that to you. Oh, that sly dog."

Demons. They were the things that had caused so much mayhem on that fateful day. The day that Asaki had lost her father. The day that Nami had lost her uncle. Realizing that, the blonde's eyes trailed down to the stone ground.

Nami almost snorted. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Au contraire, it is not. Hirasawa was an exorcist back in his day. How old are you? Fifteen—sixteen? That was around the time that he retired. Good riddance, too." He mumbled the last part to himself.

"Ojisan . . . an exorcist?" Asaki whispered.

"But, you will learn more about that subject later. For now, memorize these turns. IF you get lose, tough luck. I'm not going to help you," the purple-haired man added.

The two girls almost collapsed at his harsh words. He led them down a path. At the end of it stood a large building with female students standing in front. It was obviously a girls' dorm.

"This is the girls' dormitory. You guys will be staying in dorm room number six-six-s—" he started, and Nami paled at the next number. "—seven."

"Thank goodness . . ."

"Yada, yada, yada, here are the keys. Don't lose them."

He placed a set of keys in each of their hands. They seemed like a lot of keys for just one dorm room.

Seeing their confused looks, he added, "One of those will take you to the exorcist cram school. Just use it on any door and it will take you there. Around the corner is the normal academy. There, you will take your regular classes. Any questions?"

They both slowly raised their hands.

"No questions? Great! You will find your uniforms in your dorm; your measurements have already been sent by your mothers. Normal school starts next week. Cram school will begin as soon as possible. Good luck, girls. Now, if you excuse me, I have other matters to attend to." He narrowed his eyes at them in a last minute addition. "And don't tell the normal students that you're training to be an exorcist. We have a reputation to uphold, after all. As long as you follow that rule, you should be fine."

 _Should_ be fine . . .

Nami watched as the man rushed off. Her confused green eyes gazed down at her keys. What was this place? How did they _get in_? Nothing was making any sense. The only thing that did was the fact that they were stuck in the academy. That much was for sure. That, and the fact that they had a weird principal.

Though, that should be the least of her worries.

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 **Yay, things are going to be starting now! Review, favourite, or follow for a chance to be mentioned in the next chapter. Thank you so much for reading :)**


	3. Cram School

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

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 **Thank you to _wolflover72335_ , _lightwithinthedark_ , _teamstarlight_ , _Kotoki-chan_ , _davidfvjorge_ , _CalicoKitty402_ , _ThanatosSpell_ , and _xDFTBAx_ for adding this story to your favourites and/or following it. Also, a big thank you to _Moon Devil and Moon Angel_ , _Kotoki-chan_ , and _Guest_ for leaving a review.**

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 **CHAPTER TWO**

 **CRAM SCHOOL**

 **"Every new friend is a new adventure . . . the start of more memories."  
\- Patrick Lindsay**

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 **SHE NEVER FORGOT** that everything started with the sun. The world started with the sunny rays so many years ago, and the day she dreaded most began with them. It was the symbol of new beginnings, they say.

Bullshit.

Complete bullshit.

It was the symbol of life; the one she oh-so desperately wanted to avoid right now. It shone brightly into dorm room number six-six-seven—directly into the girl's face to remind her that she, indeed, had a life that she had to get back to. It brought the room to life along with the sounds of shuffling. Everyone was waking up. The sun meant that it was time for the day to begin, and Nami wasn't all too sure if she was ready for that.

The shuffling noises had came from her older cousin. The platinum blonde was getting ready for their big day, as she so often liked to refer to it as. She had been preparing for everything the night the two girls had came to the academy. She had decided between different hairstyles, jewelry, socks, and even different ways to wear her uniform the previous night. It was all nothing more than a nuisance to the white-haired teen. With that said, she rolled over and pulled her fluffy blankets further over her head.

The sun was only blocked from her view for a short amount of time. The blankets were ripped away from her body, letting the light come flooding back in once more. Nami released an irritated hiss at the blinding rays. Her cousin would be damned to Gehenna for disrupting the girl's precious sleep . . . as soon as she found the energy to do it.

That same blonde latched her tiny hands onto the girl's shoulders to shake her awake. No matter how many times she tried, nothing worked. Nami's seemingly dead body just shook on her bed.

"Come on, it's time to get up!" Asaki cheered. "You're going to be late. Up!"

Another growl surfaced from Nami's throat. This was was much louder. The sound made Asaki take a step back.

"What do you mean "up?" I don't want to get up!" Nami snapped.

Her hand reached around in search of her stolen blanket. It crawled around on the futon for a few seconds before flopping down in defeat. The blanket was nowhere to be found.

"We have class today."

" _You_ have class today. _I_ don't have to do anything."

"But, Faust-sensei said—"

Nami cut the girl off with a wave of her hand. "Who cares what that bozo says?"

Nami hoped that her cousin knew the real reason why she was acting so cruel. Her attitude was a result of being tired. But, it seemed to escape her mind when the blonde added—

"I know you really want to sleep for a while longer, but don't you want to learn about what this exorcist thing is?"

At the mention of the word, Nami's head shot up. Her half-lidded eyes scanned the dorm room while they adjusted to the light. Now that had definitely gotten her interest.

Asaki was standing by her bed in her uniform. It consisted of a white button-up shirt, a big black, white, and red striped ribbon, a yellow vest, and a pink skirt. Her hair was brushed neatly into a high ponytail. White knee-high socks were pulled up her legs to keep them warm. She looked ridiculous, Nami thought after further inspection. This school's colour scheme was all over the place.

Without saying anything, the teen shuffled over to where Asaki had neatly folded up their stack of uniforms. If she wanted to know more about this exorcist thing, she would have to go to their cram classes. Whatever that was.

" _An exorcist is an individual with the ability to combat demons. Seriously. That's the literally definition,"_ their principal had explained to them. Though it cleared up some of the confusion, Nami still had an endless amount of questions. Questions that would hopefully be answered at their cram school.

She felt her cousin's eyes on her as she picked up her uniform and left to go shower. At least she was awake for once.

* * *

 **TEN MINUTES. THEY** were late by ten measly minutes.

It was because of Nami taking her sweet time that the two girls had to rush to get to class. Well, rather, Asaki alone was rushing. Nami had spent nearly five minutes pulling her black thigh-highs up her legs alone. That wasn't including the time she took to tie her iconic black bow into her hair. Plus, despite Asaki's protesting, she had wrapped a tie around her neck opposed to the ribbon. She didn't want to listen, which again, was something that Asaki should have been used to.

Placing the golden key inside of their dorm room keyhole to unlock the hallways of the cram school, Asaki opened it to see if Mephisto was right. Just like he said, they were greeted with the colourful hallways instead of the girls' dorm building ones. The key had opened the path to a completely different building. Asaki's jaw dropped for a full ten seconds. It snapped shut when her cousin pushed past her into the hall.

"Wait, Nami! You can't just rush in! Aren't you confused about all of this!" Asaki called after the girl.

Nami didn't turn around. Her arms were crossed over her chest, the sounds of her shoes against the tiled floor ringing throughout the empty halls. The blonde sped after her. Nami's eyes didn't look her way. They stayed focused straight ahead, and Asaki waved her hand in front of her face just for good measure.

"Hello? Earth to Nami?"

"You said that we're late, didn't you?" Nami asked with a long sigh, and Asaki nodded. "Then hurry up. What room are we in?"

Asaki looked down at the sheet of paper in her hands. "Room one-one-seven-four for second year students," she announced. "It should be right down this hallway."

As per usual, Nami didn't say anything else while they roamed the hall. Occasionally, her eyebrows would knit together with concern upon every passing door. What if she found out something she didn't want to know? What if exorcists were actually bad people? Did she really want to be in the class? A class that she knew nothing about, no less. Questions flooded through her mind, but they had little time to wander. Her train of thought was interrupted by the words she didn't want to hear.

"This is it."

Nami's gaze trailed over to the door in front of them. Asaki's hand was already on the gold handle. Her features were upturned with the feeling of excitement. She was always the positive one. Nami, however, had to keep herself from frowning. That wouldn't be the best impression to make on a room full of students. Especially if they were evil.

Asaki pushed the door open; her long legs almost skipping into the classroom. Suddenly, a group of eyes were on them, and Nami felt herself growing paler than her hair. For once . . . she was nervous.

The man at the front of the classroom standing in front of the chalkboard looked over at the two girls. He was a tall guy with neat, brown hair, glasses, blue eyes, and as many moles adorning his face as the number of badges on his jacket.

His greeting came out more like a question. "Hello?"

Asaki instantly bowed, causing the girl behind her to look up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry for interrupting your class, sensei," she apologized. "We're new students. My name is Fujimori Asaki."

"New students two weeks into the new school year?"

Nami shrugged. A few of the students in the back of the classroom chuckled at her gesture. She had no idea when school started. She had no idea why she was _here_.

Nonetheless, the teacher nodded. "Nice to meet you, Fujimori-san . . ." he trailed off when he glanced over at Nami.

"Hirasawa Namiko, but Nami is better," she filled in.

"Hirasawa . . . ?" The teacher scratched his head in confusion. "Welcome to cram school. My name is Okumura, I'll be your instructed. Please take any of the empty seats and begin taking notes."

"Okay!" Asaki sang, walking further into the class with Nami right behind her.

Well, that wasn't too bad.

The class was full. The only seats available were all the way in the back of the classroom on either side of a kid with short, stubby hair and big ears. Nami headed in that direction. He didn't look too mean. In fact, he had a warm smile plastered on his face as he wrote down sentences from the chalkboard. Maybe these guys weren't evil at all. Though, as the two girls walked, she couldn't help but to notice the few glares thrown her way. One in particular was from a girl with long, dark purple hair in pigtails. Spoke too soon. Nami glares right back at her as she pulled a chair out and sat next to the stubby-haired kid.

Asaki sat on the right side of him while Nami sat on the left. Her black manicured hands dug into her bag to retrieve a pen and notebook. The big-eared guy glanced at the two of them in sudden confusion. Had he not seen them come in?

"Sorry for invading your space," Asaki told the guy. "My name is Fujimori Asaki."

"Uh, it's okay. I'm Konekomaru Miwa," he replied.

Asaki smiled while Nami sighed. She flipped to the first blank page in her notebook. They were only there for ten seconds and the girl was already making friends.

"Nice to meet you, Konekomaru-kun," she greeted.

The boy's gaze trailed down to look at his fiddling fingers. Like usual, her personality was probably too overwhelming.

"Oi, do you have an extra pen?"

Nami looked up from her paper, her eyebrows pulling lower than they had in the hallway. Staring back at her was a blank-faced boy. He was turned around in his chair in front of her, his blue eyes looking at hers in boredom. His lips were pulled into a straight line; almost as uncaring as his messy, black hair and thrown together uniform. Though, what stood out the most was the pointy tips of his ears. Perhaps he was one of those punk kids who liked to get body modifications. Nami felt herself leaning away.

She opened her mouth to shut the guy down, but was cut off by that familiar cheery voice. "Hold on, I think I have one," Asaki said.

She dug into her school bag. Nami gave her a sideways glance. A bigger smile than ever was plastered on the platinum blonde's face. Her hand roamed through the contents of her bag before pulling out a red fountain pen.

She held it out to the blue-eyed boy with a tilt of her head. "Here you go. My name is Fujimor—"

Nami let out a low growl. Now the whole introduction thing was starting to get repetitive. "You don't have to be so formal with everyone you talk to, Asaki."

Taking the red pen from her cousin, she held it out for the boy to take. His eyes shifted from the blonde to the pen in her hand. With a quick thanks to both girls, he took it and turned around in his seat. _Back where he belonged._

The boy beside her, Konekomaru Miwa, looked at her in slight fear. It didn't bother her, though. If he was afraid of people who liked to cut to the chase, that was his problem. It was probably the reason why most people preferred Asaki over her. Asaki went around telling everyone her name and striking up conversations. Nami kept to herself and liked to keep unnecessary things simple. She felt her hand grip around the pen tighter as she wrote notes from the board. That was when she noticed the kanji.

"Are there any questions?" Okumura-sensei asked, Nami's hand instantly shooting up. "Yes, Hirasawa-san?"

"What is an exorcist exactly?"

As if it were practiced a thousand times, every head in the class turned to look at her in shock. Several whispers were being passed around about her. The three boys seated in front of her—seeing how they were three-seated desks—turned to stare at her with slack jaws and wide eyes.

The one in the right seat with a dyed blond mohawk was the first to speak. "What is this chick?" he grumbled.

A few other students in the classroom laughed. Nami shot them all heated glares.

Okumura-sensei, on the other hand, probably saw this as an opportunity to educate the girl. "You do know what demons are, right?" he asked her politely. Nami nodded to signalize that she did. "Exorcists are the people that get rid of the demons."

"With what?" Nami asked.

"Oh, come _on_!" the mohawk guy groaned again, making more students laugh. "No one had time to sit here and explain every single detail to you. Maybe if you hadn't come two weeks late—"

Nami cut him off with a snarl. "No one asked for your input, shit face."

At that, the class burst out in fits of giggles. The mohawk guy sent the girl the nastiest look he could muster. Nami gave him one right back. Beside him, a pink-haired boy placed a hand over his face to hold back his laughter. Asaki sighed, most likely wondering why the white-haired girl couldn't blend in for once in her life. Nami ignored her.

Okumura-sensei held up a hand to stop the laughter. "Calm down, everyone," he ordered.

The laughter slowly began to die out. Though, that didn't stop mohawk from internally wising death upon the girl.

"Hirasawa-san, Fujimori-san, please stay after class so I can fill you in on details that you've missed. For now, just take notes."

Nami nodded. At least someone was offering to give her some answers.

* * *

 **ASAKI STRETCHED HER** arms high above her head. Standing up from her seat, she walked around the empty classroom to stretch her legs. It was time to get started now that the students were out of class.

Nami's attention was focused on her notes. Okumura-sensei had explained a few demons during class time. He explained their names, how they looked, how they acted, and most importantly, ways to take them down. One that they had learned about in particular reacted the most to verses from the sacred scriptures. She didn't know exactly what he was talking about, but it was a good start.

She wrote the remainder of the words written on the board into her notebook. There were only three or four people still in the classroom. This was including her. After Okumura-sensei disbanded the group, the students raced out as if the building was on fire. It was almost funny to watch some of the male students stumble over each other. Even the mohawk boy had almost tripped, sending a glare Nami's way on his exit out. She was pretty sure that he hated her now. Not that she actually cared. It was just another name to add to the ever-growing list.

A hand had stuck in front of her once she finished. Her green gaze traveled up to look at whoever it was. She had expected Okumura-sensei. Her eyes rolled when she seen that it wasn't. It was the boy who sat in front of her today. He was holding out the pen that he had borrowed from Asaki. He was giving it to her most likely because Asaki was off in her own world. Nami stared at the hand, then up at him, then back at the hand.

"Thanks for letting me borrow it today," he said, though it was more toward Asaki.

Nami simply nodded before taking the pen from the boy's hand. Why he was still here when all of his friends were gone, she didn't know.

Silence developed between the two. He didn't know what else to say. Was that all that he _should_ say?

Going with the first thing that crossed his mind, he added, "You're pretty clueless, huh?"

Nami scowled at him.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant that you don't know anything about exorcists or demons," he cleared up, raising his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to offend you . . . just wondering."

She sighed and closed her notebook. "To be completely honest, I don't know why I'm here."

Expecting to hear more, the messy-haired boy pulled up a seat in front of her desk and sat down. He moved the red case from his back to rest by his leg.

Her eyebrows knitted together. "What? I'm not going to give you some life story on why I don't know anything. I don't even know you, man."

He smiled, holding out a large hand. "I'm Okumura Rin."

"Okumura . . . As in Okumura-sensei?"

Nami stared at his hand. When he realized that she wasn't going to shake it, he removed it. This girl was just as weird as she seemed.

"That's my younger twin brother," he explained. "And you don't have to call me Okumura. Rin is fine—"

"Does that means you're old?"

"What?" His face twisted up in question. "I'm not old. He's just young; we're both sixteen. He peaked in middle school."

He felt himself smirk in victory when the corners of her lips tilted upwards. So this girl did have a sense of humor, after all.

"Your name's Hirasawa Nami, right?"

She nodded curtly.

"Is that your friends over there?" He motioned toward the blonde rotating in the corner.

"Cousin," Nami corrected.

"Should have known. You guys have the same green eyes and you're both short. How old are you? Thirteen—fourteen?

Why was this guy talking to her? "Sixteen," she answered in a sour tone.

"Wow, seriously?"

"Look, if this is your attempt at small talk, you're failing."

She hadn't expected for him to be the first student to try and strike up a conversation with her all day. After asking Okumura-sensei that question, the class had deemed her as the dunce. No one wanted to converse with the girl in fear of "catching her stupidity," as she heard a few people say. Not surprising. It was the first day of cram school and everyone already hated her. Well . . . everyone save for the pointy-eared boy asking her questions.

The boy scratched the back of his head. "Heh, I was never good at this sort of thing. I'm just trying to waste some time."

"For what?"

On cue, Okumura-sensei walked back into the classroom. His blue eyes went directly to the girl and his twin conversing in the back of the classroom. Then, it shifted over to the blonde stretching her legs in the corner. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Hirasawa-san, Fujimori-san, are you ready?" he asked, walking over to where Nami was seated. She looked into his eyes before looking into his brother's, noticing the same indigo blue surrounding their irises. "We have an hour and a half to go over everything that you don't understand."

Asaki rushed over to take a seat next to her cousin, her curious expression changing to a serious one. "All right, Okumura-sensei."

Okumura-seneri pulled up a chair to sit next to his brother, right in front of the two girls. It was then did Nami really notice the similarities between the boys. They both had the same strong jawlines, upturned eyes, long eyelashes, and towering height. The differences between them could go on forever, though. For example, Okumura-sensei's hair was a rich brown while his brother's was the same colour as the night sky, and Okumura-sensei lacking the surgically modified ears.

"You don't have to wait on me today," Okumura-senei told his brother. "I'll be late."

"It's fine, Yukio. I didn't want to do my homework now, anyways. I can wait," Pointy-ears replied.

So Okumura-sensei's first name was Yukio? Nami quickly scanned the boy's face. Yukio meant snow boy . . . did that title really fit him? She glanced over at his brother, who had a bored expression on his face now that work was going to get down. Rin meant dignified. That title didn't suit him at all.

Okumura-sensei nodded. "First things first, have both of you received your temptaints?" he asked.

Nami raised her hand a bit. "What is that?"

"Have you been afflicted by demons?"

Nami looked down at her hands. To her right, Asaki was doing the same. The day they had felt the power of those creatures had been the day that they had lost Asaki's father, Fujimori Shou. Even now, after so much time had passed since the incident, it was still painful to talk about. The two girls nodded in unison. They had been afflicted by demons if not in one of the worst possible ways.

"I understand." Sensing their moods, Okumura-sensei opted to change the subject. "Hirasawa-san, what's your father's first name?"

"Kohaku," she answered, questioningly.

"Ah, so you're Hirasawa-senpai's daughter. That explains a lot. And you must be his niece. I heard the higher ups talking about you two, but I didn't think that you would join True Cross Academy."

Poiny ears looked over at his brother. "Who?"

"Hirasawa-senpai is a knight exorcist who retired sixteen years ago."

"And they don't know about exorcists?"

"They probably don't know for reasons similar to why Dad never told _you_."

Nami raised her hand once more. "What is a knight exorcist?"

"You're in cram school to become exorcists," Okumura-sensei, and his brother rested his cheek on his hand, having heard this a million times. "A meister is someone with the knowledge to become an exorcist. It's the bottom requirement to become one. Meisters are split into five categories: a knight—someone who wields a sword, a dragoon—someone who wields firearms, a doctor—someone who treats wounds caused by demons, a tamer—someone who may summon demons as familiars, and an aria—someone who attacks by reading passages from the bible or sacred scriptures. You father and Rin, for example, are knights who fight using swords. You can pick which one you want to become."

Green eyes wanted over to blue ones before looking down at the red case between the person's legs. He was carrying around a sword in there.

Asaki flashed a bright smile. "I want to be an aria. It sounds cool."

Everyone glanced at the silent, white-haired teen. She sighed. "I guess being a dragoon would be fine with me," she said.

Being able to shoot guns seemed like the best option to her. Especially since the thought of reading out verses didn't sit well with her. She could feel the three of them staring at her, though, wondering why the small girl chose something so . . . rough.

Okumura-sensei adjusted his glasses. "Are you sure about that, Hirasawa-san? Not many new exorcists are dragoons because it requires a lot of focus and hand-eye coordination."

"I'm not changing my mind," she announced.

Okumura-sensei nodded; Pointy-ears' lips tilted up into a smirk. She clearly wasn't going to change her decision because of a few suggestions given to her. If only most of the new exorcists in the class had an attitude like hers. At this rate, it'd be back down to eight or so students in no time. None of them wanted to commit to it. But, here was this indifferent, hostile girl, showing dedication for something she barely knew about. That took guts.

He watched the way she took notes in her notebook. Each stroke of the hiragana she wrote was neat and well-practiced. Her hands were sturdy, her skinny fingers were manicured with a fresh coat of black nail polish. Even the black ribbon securing her half ponytail in place was well-done. What the hell was this girl? Hirasawa Nami was a mystery, that was for sure. A mystery as to how a person could be so dedicated to no one, but to everything at the same time.

"All right. Now that you know about that, it's time to go over everything. Demons come from Gehenna . . ."

* * *

 **Sorry for taking so long to update! I was working out all the kinks in the story line and whatnot. And to update you on the "school starting in April" thing for my westerner friends, I have a little article for you:**

 **The Japanese school year begins in April, not in September like in the United States and other countries. The first term runs to around July 20, when summer vacation begins. Kids return to school in early September for the second term, which lasts until about December 25.**

 **I hope that clears up most of the confusion. And also, a super big thank you to the people who reviewed! It made me want to update as soon as possible, which is the reason you guys get this chapter tonight instead of tomorrow.**

 **~ Insane**


	4. Interesting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

* * *

 **A big thank you to _nachobeats823_ for following and/or favouriting! Also, a big thank you to _Kotoki-chan_ for their review!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER THREE**

 **INTERESTING**

 **"Girls spilled drinks down their dresses and flickered their hair. Wishing someone, maybe even you would notice them . . . you were someone to me."  
\- Kate Chisman**

* * *

 **THERE WERE TOO** many interesting things about this school to keep track of it all. That was a very polite way to put things. It was fascinating all the way down from the many twists and turns, to the endless amounts of snotty students with their noses turned upwards. After about a week of going to school—and nowhere other than the girls' dorm—the two girls thought that they had seen everything that this place had to offer. However, as soon as they stepped foot inside of the school's cafeteria, things started getting ridiculous.

The place looked like it had been designed by Hirasawa Ana—Nami's . . . voluminous mother. Similar-looking, expensive, gold chandeliers from the living room of her house hung from the school's ceilings. Her mother had truly adored the way the gold sparkled when the light hit it. The difference was that the ceilings of this school did not hold one chandelier, but too many to count. The walls were fancy, too, coloured a royal bronze to compliment the giant, arched windows. The cafeteria tables were gold to match the throne-like chairs in front of them. The brown marble floors were polished with a shiny finish, enough to make them not want to step on it in fear of smudging it. Everything in this place was expensive in general—just as expensive as the food.

Nami felt eyebrow twitch while she scanned the priced over not once, but twice. "Two thous yen for bread . . ." she mumbled in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me . . ."

Today hadn't been the best. She had already been stopped by a group of third-year girls claiming that she was wearing her uniform in all the wrong ways. They said that the loose tie around her neck was meant for the male students, the top two buttons of her uniform shirt needed to be buttoned up at all times instead of popped open like she had them, and that the ribbon securing her side ponytail in place made her stand out too much. They were quickly ignored, frowning when the younger girl walked past them with her cousin in tow. First, it was the puzzling cram school, then it was the high class students, and now it was the lunches. Today really wasn't the best.

Asaki watched as Nami and the lunch lady glared at each other in irritation. This had been the third time that the girl had scrutinized the prices in the past two minutes, and they were beginning to hold the line. Students behind them were shooting the pair impolite glances; it was their first day of regular school and they were already causing a scene. But, it wasn't necessarily their faults. It was the school's fault for serving lobsters, steaks, and the finest French cuisine to high school kids for lunch rather than gross sandwiches like normal schools. At least, that's what Nami kept telling herself.

The blonde dug into her school bag to retrieve her wallet. The little chibi charms hanging off of the bag clanked together with the rushed movement.

"How much for two bowls of ramen?" she asked the woman.

It was better to pay the price than to have them both go hungry. If that were to happen, the cafeteria would never hear the end of Nami's mouth. Either that, or they would never hear the end of their rumbling stomachs.

The lady typed a few things on her computer before looking over at the girl, saying, "Sixteen thousand four hundred yen."

Nami opened her mouth to spit out a longer argument, her brows pulling low into a death glare, but she was cut off by the sound of Asaki's wallet opening. She pulled out the amount of money and handed it to the awaiting lunch lady. It wasn't a big deal to her. Her mother ran her own store deep inside of Tokyo; she had plenty of money to spare. Though, if they kept going like this, she would be out of cash in two weeks.

The lunch lady slid over two trays with steaming bowls of ramen. Nami took hers with a huff. The students behind them almost cheered at the sight of the white-haired girl leaving. They would no longer have to endure her holding up the line. But, as the two girls shuffled away with their trays, the line found themselves with a bigger problem. None of them wanted to be stuck sitting next to her. There were simply not enough tables in the entire school to be a safe distance away from that chick.

Asaki's green gaze flickered over to the exquisite cafeteria in search of a spare seat. When a few students seen her looking, they placed their expensive school bags in the empty seats at their table. She let out a sigh. The first day of school was going to be a lot more difficult than what she thought it would be.

However, once Nami started walking over to a corner in the room, she found herself sighing in relief. There was one group of kids who hadn't shut them out. Granted that it was probably because they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice them coming.

As if the black plague was coming, the group watched as Nami pulled out a seat and sat down. Nothing was said. Her thin fingers pulled her chopsticks apart, a blank expression on her face.

Asaki recognized one of the teenagers at the table. It was Konekomaru Miwa—the boy who had politely let her sit next to him in cram school this week. Nami, on the other hand, had stuck to sitting in the back of the class by herself after the first day. Konekomaru was the one who had offered for her to remain in the seat next to him and Asaki. But, Nami was too stubborn for that, turning him down instantly.

Now, here she was, sitting next to him and his friends . . .

Asaki watched while the group of students stared at her cousin. "Sorry, do you mind if we sit here?" she asked them.

They collectively blinked at the two girls. Why would they let the outcasts sit with them? Nobody in their right mind let them sit next to them.

"Go ahead."

The groups eyes shifted over to meet azure ones. Silence surrounded the table; the only sound was the munching coming from Nami and her ramen. She had nothing else to say to these people. It wasn't like she was going to get up anyways, and not that Pointy-ears said that they could stay, she sure as hell was. Asaki pulled up the empty seat next to Konekomaru—a place that she felt the most welcome lately—without a word. Now these guys hated them, too.

Great.

Absolutely great.

Mohawk was the one to break the silence, staring at Pointy-ears with blazing eyes. "Why'd you let her sit here?" he questioned. "Did you forget that she and I don't get along? You really are stupid, aren't you—"

"There's nothing wrong with her," he replied.

The table stared at him in shock—all except for the purple-haired girl that had glared at Nami on the first day. He didn't see what the problem was. The girl was always by herself. It almost surprised him to see her trying to sit with them. That, and she was headstrong. Even if he did tell her to leave, she wasn't going to. He knew it.

Shocking them for what felt like the hundredth time, the boy flashing the girl a grin, and said, "Hey, Nami."

She glanced over at him. Why the hell was he talking to her again? She hadn't been oblivious to the glances he would give her during cram school. Most of them were out of pity, she figured. Why else would he be trying to communicate with her?

Swallowing the noodles in her mouth, she waved at the boy with a straight face. "Hey, Okumura." The name made him flinch. "If you're talking to me because you feel bad . . . drop it."

"Of course not!"

It was a girl that spoke this time. Her blonde hair was chopped shoulder length to stand out against the pink headband atop of her head. Her big, green eyes were about as welcoming as the gorgeous smile on her face. Nami continued to eat her ramen. She remembered seeing the girl around cram school a few times.

"You're Hirasawa-san, right? I'm Moriyama Shiemi. Nice to meet you! Oh, and you are?"

Asaki waved at the other blonde. "My name is Fujimori Asaki," she answered. "Thank you for letting us sit with you all."

Nami felt herself internally sigh. Here she went with her introductions again . . .

Pointy-ears waved her off. "It's no problem."

The boy with pink hair smiled at Asaki. He wasn't going to take a chance in getting chew out by the smaller one. "I'm Shima Renzou," he introduced, motioning to the different people at the table. "That's Kamiki Izumo and Suguro Ryuji—"

"Shit face," Nami corrected.

"Oi, do you go around picking fights with people or something?" Mohawk—Suguro—hissed.

Nami shrugged. In all honesty, she didn't know why she had just called him that. Perhaps it was out of instinct. She knew nothing about the boy other than the fact that he thought she was stupid. Did that really give her enough of a reason to call him names? She felt herself going stiff. Maybe she should just shut up. It was bad enough that no one here wanted to sit next to her. Why should she make these people hate her, too?

She had been too wrapped up in her noodles to notice that the group had continued conversing. Asaki, being the social butterfly that she was, jumped into the conversation like her life depended on it. She would occasionally giggle at one of the boys' jokes to lighten the air around them. The entire time, she was smiling her cute little grin off. Granted Nami had practically the same exact smile, she didn't display it as well as her cousin did. The blonde used hers for good. Nami used hers to scare people off. And maybe that was the reason why the group had easily began talking to the blonde. It was because she always made people feel better.

Nami ate the last of her ramen. Why couldn't she do that? Because she was a lazy grump, that's why.

"What classes are you two in?" the gorgeous blonde—Shiemi—asked.

Asaki put her chopsticks down, her ramen long since eaten. "I'm in class B-nine."

"B-twelve."

"You're in B-twelve?"

Nami's eyes shot over to the Pointy-eared Okumura, whom was pointing his chopsticks at her. His blue eyes were wide in shock. Her black brows were pulling low on his face. She nodded to confirm his question, and he cracked a smirk.

"I knew that was you. I'm in the same class," he said.

She felt her eyebrows raise. Lovely.

Shima whistled. "Izumo and I are in B-nine, too. What a coincidence . . ."

Kamiki shot him a look. Her long pigtails shook the slightest bit because of her head turn. It was then did Nami really look at her face. They were small and oval-shaped, forming a natural glare. Her red eyes were narrowed at the pink-haired boy. Shades of brown danced around the maroon-coloured irises. The girl was beautiful, that was for sure. Though, her features were turned into a permanent mean expression. Nami almost sighed. She was one to talk about mean.

"We can go together if you want."

Asaki nodded. "Sure, why not? It beats walking there by myself."

Okumura turned to look at Nami. Her eyes were glued on Asaki and Shima's exchange as if it were rocket science. Did she not know what it was like to have someone talk to you like a . . . friend? This girl was interesting; it had been proved to him multiple times. She was stubborn, quiet, snarky, and now . . . he was finding out that the girl was friendless. He felt a sigh blow past his lips. It was the strangest case of deja vu he had ever felt.

Her emerald green eyes trailed over to look at him. She had nice eyes, he figured. They weren't just one green, but many greens ranging from the brightest to the darkest. Though, the first thing he truly saw was the message behind them.

 _Asaki is lucky . . ._

His mouth opened on its own accord before he could realize what he was saying. "We can go to class together, Nami."

The whole table, even the white-haired teen herself, turned to stare at him in astonishment. Did he have a death wish? This girl wasn't the most friendly thing out there. Everyone knew that. Yet, here he was, watching as she looked somewhere else—anywhere but at them. Did he upset her? Did she not want that? Her eyes looked so lonely and stoic, he thought that he had figured her out. Perhaps not . . .

"All right."

Well, maybe he did.

Students got up out of their seats to return to their classes. Nami was one of them, giving her tray to the wretched lunch lady so that she could wash it. Konekomaru, Shiemi, and Suguro went off in one direction. Asaki waved to her cousin before walking off with Kamiki and Shima, Kamiki looking rather irritated with the two. It was like everyone was cattle being herded away. They all disposed of their dishes, walking out of the beautiful cafeteria doors to get to class.

She was alone again. Scratched that. She was alone again . . . with Pointy-ears.

She made her way through the perfectly sculpted hallways. Students were pushed along the pathways. Some of them even had their noses turned high. It was the look of the prestigious. These kids were rich and they knew it. They were rich enough to tell other people how they should wear their uniforms. Her eyebrow twitched at the memory of the group of girls. What a thing to be thinking about at a time like this.

She collapsed in the seat that she had previously been sitting in. The walls were pained a golden white to accommodate the chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. The room was large, filled with wooden desks for each student to sit in. A few people were already inside. Most of them were getting ready for the next lesson while some of them were staring out of the ceiling-high windows. And, once again, she had been too wrapped up in what she was doing to notice someone sit next to her.

Her head turned, meeting the familiar sight of the pointy-eared, black-haired twin. He smiled her, and she let out a sigh. He was going to sit next to her now.

"I don't talk to you because I feel bad for you," he suddenly said.

The smile was no longer on his lips. Rather, they were pulled into a serious line. It was as if he had read her thoughts. What else could explain why he was being so nice to her—to the class dunce? But, that was when she caught sight of the students sending strange looks his way, too. It all clicked. These rich kids didn't necessarily like him either. Was he being nice to her because no one was nice to him when he first came to True Cross Academy?

The students came pouring into the class, but Nami found herself staring at the boy. What did he want from her? She thought that he would have been careless judging by his messy hair and thrown-together uniform. Yet, he was the opposite. This boy—Pointy-ears-was genuinely nice. Inexplicably nice. So much so that she was having a hard time comprehending his words.

She took her pencils and notebooks out of her school bag with a jerk. "What do you want from me?" she asked, though it came out as a hiss. "Why are you beings so nice to me?"

There was no way that this guy wasn't looking for something out of her. For all these years that she'd been going to public school, there never was someone looking to talk to her for no reason. Especially the boys.

His answer was blunt. "Why not?"

 _Why not?_

Why not be nice to the loner kid in the back of the classroom with a snippy attitude?

"I think you're interesting. You . . . remind me of me."

For the first time all day, all traces of discomfort had been erased from her face. Instead, it had been replaced with confusion. He thought that she was interesting? The only one who ever thought that she was interesting was her parents, and their opinions were biased. Of course they thought that the girl they had given birth to was interesting. But, Pointy-ears wasn't biased. He knew nothing about her. So what could be so interesting? What about her reminded him of himself. She doubted his hair seemed to always tangle itself into knots, and she doubted that he too was an occasional nervous wreck on the inside.

He thought she was interesting.

Why not?

She felt a tap on her shoulder. Her head whipped around, almost scared from the way her train of thought had been interrupted. A girl with short, brown hair sat behind her. Her honey-coloured eyes seemed to be sparkling from the friendliness radiating off of her.

She had been oblivious to Pointy-ears joining in on her staring. What did this girl want all of the sudden?

"Hirasawa-san?" the girl asked.

Nami slowly nodded her head. Her face was still dumbfounded from what had previously been said to her. She didn't really know how to get rid of the expression.

"I'm Yamada Minori."

Nami's voice was grated as she replied, "Hi . . ."

"My friends and I were wondering if you wanted to go to karaoke with us this weekend," she started, motioning to the girl sitting behind Pointy-ears. "You're new, and we saw this as a good opportunity to make a new friend. If you want to, of course."

The girl with long, brownish black hair behind Pointy-ears waved. "Heya, I'm Ueda Eiko."

Pointy-ears shot the white-haired teen a look. If someone was offering to take her somewhere, she should definitely accept. It was more than he got in his first days of school. Adjusting the red case on his back, he awaited her answer. This girl was unpredictable. Who knew what she was going to say? He mostly figured that she was going to decline.

"Sure."

His eyebrows shot up. She had said yes. Completely and utterly unpredictable . . .

"Great!" Minori gave the girl a smile.

Nami turned back around in her seat as the teacher walked into the classroom. They were going to be studying math next. A subject that she really needed to get caught up on. Her tiny hands gripped around the led pencil holding her little bunny on the eraser. It was childish, but it also gave her a sweeter demeanor. So did the girly ribbon in her hair, she thought. Perhaps that was why people were actually approaching her today.

Though, she was pulled out of her concentration yet again by someone leaning over. It was Pointy-ears, staring at her pencil case in interest.

"Oi, do you have an extra pen?"

* * *

 **STUDENTS WERE WALKING** to their dorms. At least, that was what she figured since it was a Monday afternoon.

Her hands were wrapped tight around the strap of her school bag. Asaki was at her side, telling her about the adventures of class B-nine while she matched up their footsteps. Her loafers tapped against the ground happily. Stories of how Shima kept making her laugh spilled from her mouth. Apparently, some kid slipped, and the pink-haired boy thought it was funny. His laugh was _so_ hilarious. Nami knew because Asaki had told her about it nine times now.

Kamiki, however, acted like the two of them weren't even sitting next to her. The blonde proceeded to tell her about how the purple-haired girl reminded Asaki of her, and Nami felt herself sigh. Great. What a lovely thing to hear.

She felt another heavy breath escape her lips when she caught sight of Ponity-ears walking with Okumura-sensei. Despite being the younger twin, Okumura-sensei was about two or three inches taller than his brother. It was hard to believe that he was the younger one. Everything about him—especially the way he carried himself—screamed maturity. Unlike his brother, who had his hands buried deep in the pockets of his pants, and a scowl written on his face.

Asaki noticed them, too, raising her arm high in the air to wave. "Ah, Okumura-sensei! Over here!"

Okumura-sensei's blue eyes scanned the area in confusion before landing on the blonde. His full lips instantly turned up into a smile.

Pointy-ears looked over as well, his brows knitting together in question. Asaki was hardly ever away from Nami's side. He had realized that recently. But then again . . . he looked at his younger brother. They were together a lot, too. He took a step away to distance himself.

"Oh, hi, Fujimori-san," the brown-haired boy greeted. He walked over to the two girls with his brother following, making sure he kept a two feet distance from him. "You can call me Yukio out of cram school, you know."

"All right, _Yukio_ ," Nami mumbled to test the name out. "Are we going to have homework tonight?"

Okumura-sensei— _Yukio_ scratched his chin. "Probably, but not a lot."

Asaki offered the taller boy a warm smile. He gave one back. The girl was infectious when it came to those type of things.

"So that means you're going over the demons you mentioned the other day, right?"

"Yes." Yuki nodded, and the girl grinned wider. "You're _that_ interested, huh?"

"Yup!"

Pointy-ears stepped over to Nami once he seen that the two were going to be engrossed in a conversation. She looked up at him. Though he was the smaller brother, he was still an entire head taller than her. His hands alone seemed to be almost twice the size of hers. He flashed her a smirk. His pointy ears moved a bit with the action, and she found herself wondering why he decided to get the body modification. Was it for rebellion? Either way it went, the teenager was stuck with the ears, and he didn't look the least bit bothered by that.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "So, do you like to sing?" he asked. "Is that why you said yes to those girls?"

Nami shook her head, her snowy side ponytail nearly whipping her in the face. "No, I can't sing at all. I just thought it'd be good to—"

"Get some friends?" he interrupted by saying.

She meekly nodded her head. How did he know?

He dug into the pocket of his uniform pants to retrieve something. She watched as he pulled out one of her pens; he had borrowed it in class earlier. His hand moved to offer it back to the smaller girl.

"Thanks for letting me borrow it . . . again—" but, before she could take it, he added, "What's your number? I have all of my friends' numbers."

" _I have all of my friends' numbers."_

Friends.

Why not?

He thought of her as a friend. Or at least, he was starting to. Though they had only known each other for a week, and most of that time had been spent staying out of each others' way, he saw her as his sort of friend. Not someone that he felt bad for. Pointy-ears saw her as a friend while everyone else looked at her as if she was a nuisance.

Her entire childhood, she had never had many friends, and the ones that she did have were never there for long. They all eventually came to their senses. They all eventually realized that they were wasting their time befriending the girl.

Pointy-ears . . . she knew that he was going to do the same. But maybe . . . just maybe . . . she could enjoy having a friend until that time came.

Taking the pen from his grasp, she grabbed his hand, writing the several digits to her phone number onto the appendage. His eyes went wide. He had thought she was going to decline. He thought that she was going to ignore him like she did everyone else. But, she didn't. Her hands cold hands were scribbling on his, shattering his previous thoughts about the girl.

What was she? Did normal people act this confusing? Then again, she wasn't normal people. Watching while she wrote her name and number on him, he figured that he should stop expecting things from the girl. She was interesting. She was unpredictable. She was . . . familiar.

"I'm giving this to you under one condition," she finally said, and he nodded. "Don't call my phone during odd hours of the day, Rin."

His first name.

It was nothing, but to her, it meant a lot. She had never said it, yet it didn't sound so foreign anymore. Rin was the name of her friend. Her only friend.

He cracked another smirk at the sound of his name. "Depends on what you think is "odd hours."

She sighed. Maybe it was a mistake giving the boy her number. However, as she followed behind the three on the walk to cram school, she couldn't help feeling like it wasn't. He would stay around for a while, right? There was no doubt that he was going to leave her alone one day like everyone else, but it wouldn't be so soon. At least, she hoped so. And perhaps that was where she made the mistake: befriending someone that she knew wasn't going to stay. It was a problem that she had experienced many times—what made her want to go through that again?

Ahead, Asaki was talking Yukio and Rin's ears off about a television show she used to watch. Yukio was trying his hardest to listen. His brother, on the other hand, was yanking his cheeks and he attempted to think of a way to get her to stop talking.

Her lips tilted up into a ghost of a smile. Because Rin was her new friend, that's why.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~ Insane**


	5. Building Bridges

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

* * *

 **Thank you to _Bobberison_ , _ButterfliesOfInk_ , _ILoveBeingABookworm_ , _Lynn Kyzar_ , _Sincerly-I Don't Care_ , _KnightOwl247_ , and _devilhuntermistress_ for favouriting and/or reviewing. Also a huge thank you to _Kotoki-chan_ , _KnightOwl247_ , and the person who signed their review _"I'll be back."_**

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOUR**

 **BUILDING BRIDGES**

 **"There are moments, when you're getting to know someone, when you realize something deep and buried in you is deep and buried in them, too. It feels like meeting a stranger you've known your whole life."  
\- Leah Raeder**

* * *

 **"OI, NAMI, WHERE** are you? I'm here all by myself, and people are giving me weird looks."

Nami let out a noise that sounded an awful lot like a mix between a groan and a yawn. Her weak hand was holding her cellphone to her ear. Her eyes, half-lidded and filled with sudden regret, blinked in attempt to force away the sleep within them. To block out as much of the light as they could. Her body was lying on her bed, her back facing the ceiling without a care. She was still very drowsy, but, of course, that didn't stop the boy from talking into his phone.

She had been in the deepest sleep imaginable when her phone decided to ring. The teen woke up with a jolt once the tune buzzed throughout the dorm room. Her lazy hands searched through her piles of sheets, blankets, and pillows to find the ringing item. She had been too tired to look at the caller ID at the time, answering it with a grimace. It was then did she notice the familiar strong, determined voice flowing into her head.

Why had he called _her_ out of all people? Then again, she remembered that she had gave him her phone number, meaning that he was able to call her whenever he wanted. That thought wasn't necessarily reassuring.

Nonetheless, she sucked in a sharp breath, her chapped lips pulling together in a straight line. "Why are you calling me, Rin?"

It was almost like she could feel his face twisting up in an "are you kidding me" kind of way.

"It's so early . . . You could have called me in another hour, are you nuts—"

" _Early_? It's almost seven-thirty," he interrupted. His voice held that little squeak at the end—the one he would accidentally let out when he was either angry, shocked, or in disbelief. In this case, she was guessing that it was the later. "School starts in thirty minutes. Were you _sleeping_? This late?"

Seven-thirty . . .

"Seriously?!"

Nami shot up from her position on her bed. She had seen what the teachers did to students who were late for their lessons. It wasn't a pretty sight; ten days of torturous detention and so, so, so much cleaning. It wasn't worth it, so she climbed out of her bed, her hair flying all over the place.

Asaki stared at her wide-eyed, freezing from pulling up her white, knee-high socks. She was already showered and dressed for the day.

"I'm going to be late. Why didn't you wake me up, Asaki?" Nami groaned, suddenly tired and irritated.

The blonde shrugged, causing her ponytail to move around. "I've been trying to wake you up for the past fifteen minutes. You wouldn't budge. Good thing your phone rang. You were practically a dead body."

"Give me twenty minutes," Nami said into the phone.

She could hear him snickering on the other end. "Okay."

He ended the call without another word. It was a good thing, though. Now she could get ready without interruptions.

She didn't bother asking her cousin if she was ready to go. She already knew the answer. Asaki would be rushing to school any second whether the white-haired teen was ready or not.

Nami grabbed the stack of clothes that her cousin had left out for her the night before, and walked out of the room to get to the bathroom. Hopefully, it wasn't cluttered with girls doing their makeup like every other day. If it wasn't, she would be able to squeeze in a quick shower without being late for class . . . if she timed it perfectly. That was, if she didn't let her mind wander elsewhere.

How could she end up sleeping in so late? Sleeping was her favourite pass-time, sure. But, it wasn't good enough at the cost of detention. She had made sure that she went to bed early last night just so that she wouldn't have this problem. Yet, here she was, scurrying into the shower.

She would have slowed down if it were just cram school classes today. Yukio would have let her slide with a stern warning to not do it again. But, it was her normal classes: an entirely different subject. She'd rather lose hours of sleep than to be late for her regular classes. The teachers were more strict than normal teachers, having the same strong no-nonsense as Japan's military commanders. It was no wonder why the rich kids in the school acted so proper. It was because they were forced to be that way. If one of the teachers were to catch them messing up . . .

She climbed out of the shower, scrambled into her uniform, and brushed her teeth. Nine minutes. She had a total of nine minutes to get to class B-twelve or she was doomed. Her fingers forced their way through her slightly wet, white locks; she didn't have time to comb through it. There wasn't enough time to style it, either. She had not other choice but to leave it down. She didn't even have enough time to pull her thigh-highs up. And, as she sat down in her seat next to the black-haired boy after another eight minutes of running, she couldn't help but to wonder if it would have been too difficult to pull them up. The black fabric was pooled around the bottom of her calves. Maybe it wouldn't have been too difficult, but she made it in time either way.

The high-pitched sound of the bell had rang throughout the school, yet the teacher was still not present. She had ran around campus for nothing.

Rin turned his head to look at her. She noticed that his hair was unusually brushed today. Not that it wasn't the same bedhead. It was just that today the boy appeared to put a bit of effort into a comb. The buttons of his shirt were opened more than usual, too. The opening came inches past his collarbones, and his tie hung loose around his neck. It was only a matter of time until those girls stopped him for uniform violation.

"You lied," he suddenly pointed out.

Nami's brows pulled low while she took out her notebooks and pens. What was he talking about? The corners of his lips tilted into a smirk, his sharp canines showing themselves, and the girl found herself staring at her black fingernails.

"That was nineteen minutes, not twenty."

"That should be a good thing, shouldn't it?" She felt a genuine laugh surface.

A laugh. It had been a long time since she laughed and it not having anything to do with someone hurting themselves. Reaching her hands down to her socks, she began to pull them up her legs to avoid looking silly. The boy innocently shrugged, watching her movements.

"You said something about people giving you weird looks. What were you talking about?" she asked.

He motioned a large hand to the room around them. The sun was beaming into the classroom through the high windows. The scent of a lingering morning lingered in the class. It was a serene view . . . except for one thing. Students all around the classroom were looking at the two. A few of the girls were gossiping about something to their friends, their eyes never leaving the pair. It was beyond anyone what they were talking about.

Nami's eyes hardened to give the girls glares, and the whispers stopped. So the rich kids didn't really like Rin, either.

He put his elbow on his desk, using his hand to prop his head up. "The old me would have done the same thing and fought them after school. It's okay, you get used to it."

The way that he said it made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. Even though they were the outcasts of class B-twelve, he didn't mind one bit. That took a lot of confidence. Confidence that she didn't have.

"Why don't you care?" she asked. "It's a pain in the ass to be an outcast. Why are you so used to it?"

"They've been this way since I came to this school. Besides, I've always been an outcast," he explained with a sigh. Closing his eyes, his long lashes creating shadows on his cheeks, he added, "Yukio and I came here about a year ago. We grew up in middle class Tokyo, so I didn't know a lot about this whole "rich kid" life."

Nami scoffed as she adjusted her other sock. "Your mother must not have thought this far ahead," she mused. "Just like mine.

A small smile graced his features. "My mom died a long time ago."

Her eyes went wide in regret. She shouldn't have said that. She should have kept her mouth shut. She should always keep her mouth shut, just like she was accustomed to doing.

"Oh, I'm sorry . . ."

Opening his eyes again, he looked in her direction. "It's okay. It doesn't bother me."

"Man, it's too early in the morning for this."

He chuckled, continuing, "My mom died having Yukio and me. She gave us to my dad. Dad was this perverted old man. He was a priest . . . and an exorcist."

A more reminiscent smile adorned his face at the mention of his father. It was such a small, gentle smile, as if recalling an old memory. Though, Nami chose not to dwell on the fact that he said his mother gave him to his father. The twins must have been adopted.

"Yukio said that he didn't tell you that he was an exorcist," she replied instead, fingering a lock of her damp hair.

"Like hell he did," he agreed with a scoff. "I found out last year. That damn four-eyed mole knew since we were kids and didn't tell me anything."

So, his father didn't want him to know, either. "So, we're in the same boat, huh?"

"No." He shifted his chin a bit so that it was resting comfortably on the pal of his hand. "I'm still better than you."

Her eyes narrowed. Of course he was better. He had been doing everything way longer than she had.

She opted to change the subject. "Where is your dad?"

"He passed away."

"Sorry about that."

Her gaze trailed down to the floor. He and Yukio were alone. They didn't have parents. They didn't have anyone to look after them. And it wasn't like she usually gave a damn about anyone else's home situation. Considering that Rin was her only friend, she figured that she would give the whole "caring" thing a try.

He waved her sympathy off with his free hand. "It's okay, it's okay. I've been on my own for a long time now," he assured. "Back on topic, when I first came here, I thought that this school was the coolest thing ever, you know? The chandeliers handing everywhere, the golden chairs, the huge entrance . . . They thought that I was some weirdo for freaking out. Now everyone avoids me. Especially because of the time where I thought my cooking skills would get all the girls. They ended up thinking that I was some no-good delinquent and going to Yukio. I still don't know how that happened . . ."

Nami let out a dry laugh, making the boy scratch the back of his head. "Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "You're more relatable than anyone else. Plus, we're friends now, remember?"

"So that gives you a reason to tell me your life's story?" Her brows shot up in question.

"Probably not, but you can tell me yours," he tried.

Should she tell him about herself? Would she tell him about herself? Where would she even start something like that? His cerulean eyes were gazing at her with so much interest. So much risk. What could he possibly be so curious about? She was just a girl with a sleeping addiction. There was nothing special to her. He was treating her like a damn science experiment.

Seeing her obvious inner turmoil, he offered, "Do you have any siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child."

The answer came rushing out of her mouth. She had been debating if she should tell him, but here she was, spilling out answers.

He chuckled. "So that's why you act like that."

"Act like what?" Her eyes hardened into a glare.

"You act so cold, like you don't want to be bothered with. It's obvious to see through. You need to calm down sometimes."

"I need to _calm down_?"

He nodded. "Mmhmm."

"You don't know shit about me. I do what I want, when I want, and if I don't want to talk any of the assholes at this school, that's my business. Mind yours," she snapped.

"Mind my business?" he asked, his tone dripped in amusement.

She nodded to mock him. "Mmhmm."

He turned to look ahead, his smile dropping a bit. "Guess birds of the same feather flock together," he muttered.

There was no point in saying anything else. Another word would seem like an insult at that point. But, that only managed to confuse her. What had he meant by that? That he could see through her and that they were alike? She had yet to see any similarities between the two of them. And like she said, he didn't know a thing about her. How could he be so sure of her when he didn't know anything?

The teacher barged into the room demanding silence. Her body turned to face ahead. The chatter throughout the room stopped. So much for trying to act like she cared.

* * *

 **THE LUNCH BELL** was like a saving grace. Notebooks were shoved into schoolbags. Talking surfaced throughout the classroom as if the students had been deprived of it for days.

Rin flinched, having fallen asleep during their English lesson an hour ago. Nami placed her things inside of her bag and swung it over her shoulder. The star-shaped charm hanging from the zipper clanged from the movement. The girl made her way through the group of students to get to the cafeteria with him dragging groggily behind her. Students were pushing into the hallways to get there first. The hallways were filled with chatter about endless things. Though, what drew her attention the most was the boy standing beside her.

She had to look up at him to get a glimpse of his face. His once slightly combed hair had been messed up again due to his nap. His tie was wrinkled. His eyes held the aftershocks of sleep in them. He had been so unconscious that he almost looked confused with where he was.

"Are you walking with me?" she asked him.

She already knew the answer to that. She just wanted to hear him say it. To hear it come out of his mouth.

He didn't even glance at her, his eyes focused on maneuvering through the groups of students. "We're going to the same place. Might as well."

Her hands gripped tighter onto the straps of her bag. "I guess I should apologize for snapping at you earlier."

"Huh?"

His attention was on her in seconds. His eyebrows were pulled low out of confusion. His eyes were narrowed while he watched her.

Nami fidgeted in her school shoes before moving aside so that she wouldn't bump into someone. Nice people apologized. Friends apologized, right?

Reaching a hand up to scratch his defined jawline, he added, "Sorry for pissing you off."

She moved a lock of hair behind her shoulder. "It's okay—"

"Nami!"

"Rin!"

Their heads whipped around to see Shima, Asaki, and an annoyed-looking Kamiki walking toward them. The three pushed past the bodies to meet up with the two. Despite earning a few glares and nasty comments, they made it over without a problem. Asaki ran into Nami's arms as if she hadn't seen her in years rather than just that morning. The platinum blonde twirled her around happily. Nami pulled away from the girl with a sigh.

Rin was caught up in a conversation with Shima and Kamiki. They were busy, so she adjusted the bag on her shoulder, and walked into the cafeteria with her cousin. The blonde had told her that she would pay for their meals until they figured out a way to save money. If that was possible in a school like this one.

The inside of the cafeteria wasn't as active as it was in the hallways. Rin, Kamiki, and Shima walked off carrying their homemade lunched—most likely going to their table. The cousins made a beeline for the register before the line could get too long. She had never noticed that the kids here ate packed lunches. It was a cheap alternative opposed to two thousand yen for bread.

She shifted in her spot behind a tall kid with glasses. His hair was a coppery brown and void of any knots. He looked friendly, Nami concluded, but after she saw him stick his leg out to trip a girl walking by, she thought otherwise. What was wrong with this school? Everyone was so snotty. Not to mention cruel. The girls stepped forward once they were at the front of the line.

"Oh, it's you again," the woman behind the counter said, glaring down at Nami. "Did you come here to hold up the line like last time?"

Asaki cut her cousin off before she could start another war. It took a long time to get her to move on from a fight. If the lunch lady uttered another wrong word, Nami wouldn't be going anywhere.

Her hands dug into her pink walled to fish out the required amount of yen. "Two bowls of ramen, please."

It was the cheapest thing on the menu. Something was better than nothing.

The lunch lady took the cash from the smaller girl, scowling as she typed a few things into the computer. Nami's arms crossed over her chest. Why was everything so expensive? It made no sense. They expected a bunch of fifteen to eight-year-old's to afford these high-end meals.

Almost right away, two trays of steaming noodles were placed onto the counter. They took their trays—Nami making sure to give the woman the nastiest look she could muster—and began walking over to the seating area. Asaki waddled over to the table filled with cram school students. It didn't take her long to plop down next to Konekomaru.

Nami's gaze slid around the cafeteria for an empty seat by herself. Surely she couldn't sit with those guys again. That Suguro guy didn't like her, anyways. What was the point in trying?

That was, until she saw Rin. He was watching her, chopsticks in hand, and his finger pointing to the empty chair across from him.

 _Sit down_.

Sighing, she walked over and sat down in the chair. If she chose not to sit there, she would probably never hear the end of it. But, it wasn't like she didn't _want_ to. She set her tray on the table, clutching onto her chopsticks to begin eating her food. Eyes were immediately on her again. Though, what surprised her was that Shima, that Shiemi girl, and Konekomaru were waving to her. Perhaps they didn't hate her as much as she thought. Suguro shot her a look. Spoke too soon.

"Hello, Nami-chan," Shiemi greeted.

She was seated next to Rin, a bright smile on her face. Her bob haircut looked amazing today. She had switched out her pink headband for a white one. Even her uniform looked good, her white thigh-highs clinging perfectly to her more curvier thighs. She had somehow managed to look adorable with a piece of bread on the corner of her mouth, too. How the hell was that possible? She and Asaki had to be the most welcoming, pretty people she had ever laid eyes on . . . It must have been a blonde thing.

Nami's eyes went wide. She had been too busy focused on the girl's looks to hear the nickname that she had given her.

"What the hell is a Nami-chan?"

"Ah, Nami-chan," Shima mused, shaking out her pink locks. "Is that what we're calling her from now on?"

She felt the colour drain from her face. That name was disgusting. No one had ever called her that before. It was way too cute. Or at least, she thought it was. She dug out a few noodles from the bowl and began eating. She didn't even associate with those guys on a regular basis. Why would they be giving her nicknames?

"What do you want to be called, then?" Rin smirked, and she glared at him. "It's up to you, _Namiko_."

She inwardly flinched at her real name. "Don't call me that. Anything but that."

"Nami-chan it is." Shiemi smiled.

"That's a stupid nickname," the girl with purple pigtails pointed out.

Her crimson eyes were watching the table in disinterest. She had flicked a pigtail over her shoulder in a bratty manner before rolling her eyes.

"Then again, you do come up with stupid nicknames for everyone you—"

She was cut off by the sound of a deep snarl. It had came from Rin. His eyes were narrowed at the girl; the gaze he held was nothing but pure death. It was harsh enough to make anyone want to roll over and die.

"Izumo," he warned.

He clearly didn't like anyone bad mouthing the blonde. He cared a lot for her. She watched how Shiemi seemed to be completely comfortable around the boy, her arms pressing against his while covered in goosebumps. Maybe that was his girlfriend. Nami ate a few of her noodles to divert her attention from them.

Suguro let out a huff. She knew what had to be done next. They were trying to be civil, so she should, too.

"I apologize for calling you shit face the other day, I guess . . ." Nami suddenly said. "I felt attacked and I called you names. I shouldn't have done that. That's not what friendly people do, and I'm trying to be a friendly person."

Suguro's brown eyes went wide as he looked up from his tray. Even Asaki looked confused from the gesture. Nami just couldn't go on with him hating her. She didn't want anyone else to hate her. She just didn't have the best way of letting people know that.

Rin snorted back a laugh.

"Uh . . ." Suguro ran a hand through the blond streak in his brown hair before clearing his throat. "It's okay. You're still a clueless idiot, though."

Nami scoffed. At least that was out of the way. She wouldn't have to worry about him being angry when he was around her. Or visibly angry. There was no telling if they were on good terms or not. But, his scowl seemed to go away, so maybe they were. A silence covered the table as everyone ate. Had she ruined the talking mood?

Attempting to change the subject onto a lighter note, she said, "All this money for a bowl of ramen . . . Did they think we grew money out of thin air?"

She didn't know why she said that. She was never one to talk the first place, let alone clear the atmosphere.

"You're tellin' me," Rin grumbled. "How'd you guys afford to buy lunch?"

Nami motioned her head over to the blonde. "Asaki paid for it. Her mom runs a business in the center of Tokyo, so she has a bit of money."

A pink tint spread across Asaki's cheeks, her little hand reaching up to sheepishly scratch the back of her neck. "Actually, at this rate, I'll be broke in two weeks . . ." Then, she let out an awkward chuckle.

Rin placed a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. Nami's eyes narrowed into slits at the boy. Seeing the look in her eye, he held his hands up in surrender.

"You know the dorms have kitchens in them, right? Why don't you guys just make yourselves lunches? That's what most of us do," he tried.

"I don't know how to cook." Asaki shrugged her shoulders. "Nami is known for burning down kitchens, so there's no point in her trying, either."

Shima and Konekomaru tried to play off their laughter with coughs. Nami shot them looks. Now the whole table knew about her inability to cook. It wasn't something that she could be proud of. Her mother said that women should know how to cook, yet after all these years, she was still terrible at it.

"I know someone who can make lunches for you."

Nami's head snapped up to brush away her thoughts. "Who?" she asked.

Rin chuckled. "A friend of mine. I can take you after cram school."

"Sure, why not."

* * *

 **NAMI'S FEET FELL** into step behind Rin's as he guided her across the campus. The sun was beginning to set without a doubt. Shades of blues, pinks, and oranges were swirling across the sky. Occasionally, students would walk past them to get to their dorms. Other than that, the campus was almost empty.

Cram school had ran twenty minutes later than it was supposed to due to extra note-taking. Because of that, it had gotten late—around five o'clock. Asaki had declined coming, saying she needed to prepare for class tomorrow. Nami knew that she should have gone back to the dorm with her. But, she'd rather have gone with Rin. Especially since the boy was trying to get her free lunches.

However, her inner peace was soon ruined by the sight standing in front of her. Her body froze. _What in the world was this building?_ Unlike all of the other buildings in True Cross Academy, this one was run down with paint chipping off of it. Some of the windows on the higher floors were broken or cracked. The ones that weren't were covered in thick layers of dirt. It must have been some type of joke. But, as she watched him pull the creaking front doors apart and walk inside, she knew that it wasn't. He lived in the shabbiest-looking dorm building that she had seen so far. Maybe that was just how the boys' dormitories looked. Or maybe Mephisto hated him.

She slowly stepped inside before closing the door behind her. The floorboards groaned under her boots. The inside wasn't as rough as the outside. Everything was dusted and cleaned despite how old everything looked. The once white walls had changed into a gray-brown colour. There were cobwebs in the corners. It was completely empty save for furniture, where as in her dormitory, a few girls would have been staggering about. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Where had all the boys gone?

Rin called her name, tearing her away from her inspection of the building. She followed the sound of his footsteps through the hallway and into the eating room of the dorm. No one was in there, either. Pulling the tie from around his neck, he tossed it onto one of the empty tables.

"Welcome to my dorm," he greeted, using his hands to gesture around like the whole thing belonged to him.

That couldn't have been the case. One student couldn't get a whole building to himself.

He looked over to where she was standing in the corner, and blew out a breath. "You can come in, you know. Don't worry about making too much noise. We're the only ones here."

The only ones here.

She felt her eyebrows knit together. She was getting rather confused. She had to ask him why they were alone. This _was_ a dorm, after all.

"Is this whole building for you? Do you live here by yourself?"

"I wish." He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair to mess it up even more. "Yukio stays here, too. That's it, though. It's just us two. Oi, Ukobach!"

 _What?_

He made his way over to the opening in the wall showing the kitchen. The lights were on, but no one was in there. That was . . . until she saw it.

She almost lost it when a frowning little, purple creature hopped onto the counter. A demon. One of those deadly beasts. The demon looked like a satyr, horns growing out of its head and an animal body below the waist. Its cheeks were rosy to contrast against the purple beard growing out of its chin, and the apron it was wearing. Its fork-like tail swung behind it while its yellow eyes zeroed in on Rin. The boy simply crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against the nearby wall.

"Ukobach, this is Nami. Nami, this is Ukobach," he introduced.

Nami stared down at the tiny creature. They were keeping a demon in their kitchen? Maybe it was a common occurrence for higher leveled exorcists.

"That's a demon," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but this is a nice one. He's harmless, really."

Rin gave the demon three friendly pats on the head. It pouted in response. Its tiny bottom lip jutted out in a way that was almost . . . cute.

The demon waved a giant, gloved hand at the girl to greet her. She slowly waved back, her legs carrying her over to the counter. She could see the demon better now that she was in front of it. It was fuzzy-looking—almost like a teddy bear.

"What's up, Ukobach. You know, you're kind of adorable. In a weird, demonic way," she said.

The creature's jaw dropped dramatically as he stared at the white-haired teen. What was its problem?

Looking over at Rin, she asked, "Um, did I do something wrong?"

Ukobach grabbed a hold of the girl's hand before gently pressing his lips to her knuckles. It was kissing the back of her hand. Her eyes went wide at the display of affection; the demon truly was nice. Hopefully, it didn't like her too much. Though, before she could say anything else, another hand knocked Ukobach's away. It glared up at Rin while the boy cleared his throat.

"Anyways," he started. "Nami can't afford to get lunch at school, so I was wondering if you could make lunch for her, too."

Nami bowed to show her respects. "I'd appreciate it, Ukobach," she tried.

She had to be pleasant . . . just this once. If he wouldn't do it, then she was doomed. They would probably have to go a few days without eating just to get by. However, the demon let out a love-filled sigh, and she took that as a yes.

"Thanks, man."

He started squeaking words in that foreign tongue, and Rin sighed. "He's going to make you something to eat."

"Thanks," Nami said again.

Rin buried his hands deep into his pockets. He walked over to one of the seats, the chain hanging from his belt loops swaying with each step. Pulling out a chair, he sat down in it, watching as Nami sat in the one across from him. Even sitting down, the boy was bigger than her. He rested his chin in the palm of his hand while his eyes scanned throughout the room. What he was looking for, she did not know.

The dorm was dark save for the lights that they had turned on, and the rose-coloured beams of sunlight shining in from the windows. She had noticed that the kitchen area seemed to be the most well-kept area in the dorm so far. There were no spiderwebs nor any dust. The paint on the walls weren't even discoloured.

She had been to caught up in looking around that she almost just when Rin spoke.

"Wow, you actually look _content_ for once." He chuckled.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't get used to it."

"That's too bad," he played along. "You look better when you don't have an attitude."

She rolled her eyes again. "I don't get attitudes."

"Yeah, we're not having this conversation again." This time, he rolled his eyes.

Ukobach came out of the kitchen with a plate of sushi. The small creature jumped onto the table, placing the plate in front of her. The plate was well-prepared—artistic, even. It looked like it had came straight out of a magazine. Hopefully, it tasted like that as well.

"Thanks again." Using her chopsticks, she picked one of the rolls up and put it into her mouth. Surprise swept over her features; it was better than her own mother's cooking. "Woah, it's really good."

The demons twiddled his fingers together. His rosy cheeks were growing a faint red. He bowed to show that he appreciated the praise, scurrying back into the kitchen once he stood upright. Nami moved to put another roll into her mouth. The sushi was amazing. The rice was just right, and the fish inside was cooked properly. She could never get tired of eating them.

"You were telling me your life's story," Rin suddenly pointed out.

She looked up with wide eyes, puffed out cheeks, and a face full of rice. He let out a laugh at her caught-off-guard appearance. He said something about how she was going to choke, but she ignored him.

"Oh, yeah . . ." She swallowed the food inside of her mouth. "Well, I was born and raised in Tokyo. I don't have any siblings. My life is pretty boring. Nothing really started happening in it until a few months ago."

"What happened?"

"My uncle Shou died," she revealed, stuffing her face with more sushi. "He was Asaki's dad. He died in the whole "Satan coming back up from Gehenna" catastrophe. Things were pretty normal after that—as normal as a life after that could get—until my Dad suddenly announced that he was sending Asaki and me away to be somewhere safe. The next thing I know, I'm at the front gates of this school. That Mephisto, or Johann Faust, or whatever guy was the one who told us that my dad was a retired exorcist."

"What's he like?"

"He's like . . . one of those old guys desperately trying to cling onto his youth. He's confident, self-assured, overprotective, a geek, and overbearing sometimes."

He began to draw patterns on the table with his finger. "What about your mom?" he asked, softly.

Nami waved the question off with her chopsticks. "She's fine. She's probably at home hanging more chandeliers in our house," she answered. "That or walking around in some tight shirt. Both of my parents swear they're in their twenties."

He smiled. "They sound nice. Now I know where you get it from."

She made a face at him. "Are you calling me nice? I've been called a lot of things before, but never nice. And wasn't I just cursing at you a few hours ago?"

"Eh, you can be when you want to be. _I'm trying to be a friendly person_ , remember?" He almost laughed as he mocked her words from earlier. "Why do you act like you've never had friends before?"

"Because I haven't," she answered, bluntly, and his expression didn't look too shocked. "Well, not for long periods of time, I should say. All of my friends end up leaving me after a couple of weeks. None of them wanted to stick around. I always wondered why they left. I know it's because I'm not the best person out there, but I don't want to come to terms with that, you know? Friends come, stick around, and then they go. It's just that mine prefer to skip the second step."

"I knew. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, either." Rin cracked a sympathetic smile. "They didn't last long. But, I guess that's what you get when you constantly fight people at school. I even got into fights in preschool. A lot of people didn't want to be around me."

Nami snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're serious about you beating people up in the past, huh?" she mused. "You're the _last_ person I'd expect that from."

His eyes narrowed into slits. "What is that supposed to mean?" he hissed, and she almost snicked at the look on his face. "What are you laughing at, shorty? I can be scary when I want to."

"I'm not short," she snapped, angrily. "You're just freakishly tall, weirdo."

He snorted this time. "I'm not. I'm, like, average height. And stop trying to change the damn subject with insults. I'm not a liar."

"Yeah, right. You're one of the only people in this school that has been nothing but nice to me," she pointed out.

His expression shifted to one of shock. The words sounded a lot less depressing in her head. Attempting to change the subject, she motioned to the red case on his back. Every time she saw him, he was carrying it around.

"That's the sword that Yukio was talking about the other day?" she asked.

He glanced behind him as if he had forgotten that the case was there. Nodding, he took it off of his shoulder. His hands pulled the zipper down the length of it to reveal a sheathed katana. He lifted it out of the case while she stared at the intricate designs on it. The handle was wrapped in a blue fabric, creating criss-cross patterns. The scabbard was blue with a green ribbon tied around it. A similar ribbon hung from the butt of the weapon, swaying every time he moved it.

"My dad gave it to me right before he died," he explained, swinging it around as if it was the lightest thing in the world. It made a whipping around against the air from the force. "I've been carrying it around for so long that I forget that it's there."

"It's . . . pretty . . ."

Her sentence trailed off when she heard the front door open. The floorboards creaked as someone walked in, shutting the door behind them. Footsteps rang throughout the quiet dorm before someone walked past the eating area. They looked over; it was just Yukio.

He ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair, letting his bangs fall back into his eyes. His glasses weren't on his face. In that moment, Nami swore that he and Rin couldn't have looked more related.

Swallowing another sushi roll, she waved to the younger brother. "Hi, Yukio."

He turned around, his blue eyes going wide when he saw the two sitting at the table. Or, more specifically, the weapon in his brother's hands.

"Hey, Hirasawa-san," he greeted, sliding his glasses back onto his face.

Now that he could see, he shared a look with his brother. She watched the interaction between the two. No words were exchanged, but Rin nodded nonetheless. _What was that about?_

Yukio sighed, walking through the halls and heading for the staircase. "Well, I have paperwork to fill out. Make sure you finish your homework, onii-san."

Rin waved him off. "Yeah, yeah . . ." he mumbled.

He picked the sword case up, and placed the weapon inside. It slid into without so much as a peep. And once it was secure, he began to zip it back up to the way it was.

"You know, these are really good."

Rin glanced back over at the girl sitting across from him. Her cheeks were puffed out as she chewed on the sushi. Her green eyes had been squeezed shut to fully concentrate on the taste. Her plate was almost empty; she had eaten most of her food. It wasn't like Ukobach wouldn't go make her more if she wanted them. At this point, all she had to do was snap her fingers.

"I bet. You ate them like a cow. You'd think you hadn't eaten in days—you looked like a vacuum cleaner."

He wasn't expecting for her to stomp on his foot under the table. He let out a groan, jumping and nearly hitting his knee underneath the table in the process. Now his toes were throbbing.

"Ow, okay, I'm sorry," he hissed in pain. "I'll bring your lunch tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he's going to want to cook for you now."

She smirked as if she hadn't just crushed his foot. "All right, thanks," she said.

He made a face. "You're evil."

"You just called me a vacuum cleaner," Nami defended, her brows furrowing. "I'd say my actions were justified, you asshole."

She wanted to glare when he started chuckling. He shook his head, face falling into his hand, laughing like she was the funniest thing in Academy Town. It made her fume.

"What's so funny?" she barked.

He started full blown laughing. "You're like an angry ass puppy."

The image of a tiny, white, barking puppy with green eyes slipped into her imagination. The kind of puppy that barked bloody murder whenever someone touched their stuff, or when the mailman came. He compared her to a little animal that was all bark and no bite. The image made her growl, which only proceeded in making him laughter harder.

She glared at him. "Do you like purposely pressing my buttons?"

"I don't mean to." He shrugged, laughter dying down. "You're just on defense all the time, it's not my fault."

"For someone with a girlfriend, you sure are immature."

His eyebrows pulled low. "What girlfriend are you talking about?" He snickered.

"Shiemi." She said it slow like she was speaking to a dumb child. "She's your girlfriend, right? She's pretty, there's no reason for you to act so—"

He cut her off with an obnoxious snort. "You think I'm dating Shiemi? Sh-Shiemi . . . and me—" He threw his head back laughing.

She glanced at him in confusion, eating the last of her sushi. They had seemed like a couple in the cafeteria. They had chemistry. Now he was telling her that they didn't.

She put her chopsticks down with a roll of her eyes. "What's the point in lying? I thought you weren't a liar."

"Shiemi is not my girlfriend," he cleared up once his laughter died back down. "She's just one of my closest friends. I'm pretty sure that she likes Yukio. Yup, about ninety-nine point nine percent sure. She's definitely into my brother. Definitely. No doubt about it."

Nami blinked twice. "What? Shiemi and Yukio . . ." she trailed off in disbelief. "But you liked her at some point, right? You guys look close. That's what people do when they like each other."

"Maybe a long time ago. But, right now, I don't like Shiemi. Besides, Yukio had her first." He chuckled a bit. "Keep this between us, all right?"

"As long as you keep my cow eating between us."

He laughed one of those genuine laughs. "Deal. I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."

He was entertaining the thought of them being friends. She was happy about it, sure, but it was also strange. It had been a long time since someone wanted to talk to her as much as he did. He was actually intent on forming a friendship with her, and it sent her into a spiral of . . . something otherworldly. Something she didn't really know nothing about. But, she was going to try her best to keep building the bridge. Friendships couldn't be one-sided, even _if_ the other side of the bridge thought she was a raging tea cup poodle.

She didn't pay attention to the sun slowly disappearing from the sky. She didn't pay attention to the stars suddenly twinkling above. She was sure that he hadn't been paying attention to what time it was, either.

Nami moved one of her boots over the other, swinging her legs underneath the table. "When's your birthday?" she asked.

She used her chopsticks to eat her second plate of sushi thanks to Ukobach. He had been so sweet when she asked him for more. This time, he had made more than he made the first time. This had to have been the most she'd eaten all week.

Rin leaned back in his chair. He had long ago traded his uniform shirt for a plain, black tee. He had kicked his shoes off, wearing nothing but his socks. He was comfortable, unlike her, who had been stuck in her uniform for hours now.

"December twenty-seventh," he answered. "What about you?"

She chewed on her sushi. "February tenth."

"So, what—I'm about two months older than you?" he mused.

"Whatever. I'll still kick your ass."

He smirked at her words, shrugging innocently. "I don't fight little girls, sorry. Especially ones who are under five-foot-two."

She kicked him under the table, wincing when her foot came in contact with the leg of his chair rather than his actual leg. He snickered at her frustration.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he fished it out upon the second ring. His thumb slid across the screen to unlock it before it froze. His eyes went wide, looking at something displaying on the screen. Nami frowned. She didn't know what was going on.

Looking over at her, he turned his phone around to reveal the clock on the screen. "It's two in the morning."

Her breath hitched. "Are you serious? We've been sitting here for nine hours?" she mumbled.

She had been talking to and arguing with this guy for nine hours? Oh, she was going to be late for class tomorrow. She was late to class when she got a full nights sleep. She couldn't imagine how late she was going to be going to sleep at two in the morning. Their teacher was going to make her suffer.

"So much for doing homework, huh? I should get going."

Rin scratched his head of messy, black hair. "Sorry, I lost track of time."

Nami stood up out of the chair, stretching her arms high above her head. The popping of her stiff joins was loud enough to cause an echo. He stood up, too, and exaggerated yawn escaping his lips. She slung her schoolbag over her shoulder. It felt so strange so not be sitting in the chair anymore.

"Goodnight, Ukobach!" she called out to the kitchen demon.

He popped his head up, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout as he waved his giant hands. He seemed almost . . . sad that she was leaving. She smiled a bit. That was new; at least someone cared.

She started for the door with the blue-eyed boy at her heels. His sock-clad feet made little pat sounds against the hardwood flooring. His hands were buried deep in his pockets. When she reached the door, she gave him a wave. He looked so sleepy standing in the doorway.

"Night, Rin."

He held out a hand to her. In it was her black ribbon. _Had it fallen out of her hair?_ Nonetheless, she took it from him in gratitude. It had been a gift from her deceased uncle—the last thing that he had gave her before his demise. It was one of her prized possessions. If she would have lost it, she would have blew a gasket.

"Night," he replied. "Don't get lost on the way back to your dorm."

She snorted, called him an idiot, and left, walking down the steps and onto the many paths of the school. The full moon was high in the sky. It illuminated the area around her. It was way past the school's curfew. Though, it was worth it. She got to spend time with someone that she considered a friend. She got to talk about anything and everything with him. From the many secrets of True Cross Academy to what kind of toothpaste he used, he told her everything. She had done the same, answering any question that he chose to ask her. Even the more personal ones.

" _How did your uncle die?"_

" _Suffocation. A demon strangled him in front of his wife."_

But, that was what friends did, right?

No. She had messed up. She hadn't meant for things to go as far as they did. It was so unfortunate. She hadn't meant to get somewhat attached to him. She hadn't meant to become seriously friends. She wasn't supposed to be his friend. She wasn't supposed to build those bridges that she wanted. It only made her future that much harder. Her shoes tapped against the ground with every step.

She had messed up. She had built a friendship with someone at the academy. She was always alone, used to not being accompanied in life. So, why had she broke her tradition all because of her want for a few conversations? It was too much. She couldn't let it get worse.

So, she sucked it up. She'd have to destroy that bridge. If she didn't, it was going to make it hurt so much more when he left her like everyone else did.

* * *

 **Review and tell me what you think! I also really appreciate constructive criticism; it helps me out a lot and helps me grow.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~ Insane**


	6. Vomit

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

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 **Thank you for _Kotoki-chan_ , _KnightOwl247_ , and _Guest_ for reviewing! I really appreciate it, guys! Thanks for the motivation!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER FIVE**

 **VOMIT**

 **"The butterflies you get in your stomach when you see someone you like is actually a stress response caused by adrenaline."  
\- Unknown**

* * *

 **THIS WOULDN'T BE** the exact highlight of Nami's life. Matter of fact, today in general wouldn't be the highlight of her life.

She woke up to something that didn't surprise her all too much. She was thirty minutes late to class. It could have been worse, she decided, seeing as she had went to sleep when the sun was going to rise. When she came into the classroom another thirty minutes later, the teacher was in the middle of teaching a lecture. She had hoped that she could sneak in going unnoticed. But, the universe wouldn't have that today. The door creaked open when her hand pushed it aside. It only took a few seconds for all eyes to be turned on her. Well, all but one pair.

Rin was sitting in the back of the class with her head down. His clothes were disheveled, and there were traces of purple under his shut eyes. His chest was moving up and down to blow soft breaths out of his parted lips. The lips out of which drool was flowing. He looked like a complete mess. Not to say that she didn't, either. Her hair had been pulled into the messiest ponytail, stray strands flying all over the place. She hadn't even managed to tie her tie. The garment was just thrown around her neck, being worn as a type of scarf instead. One of her thigh highs were riding lower than the other. She looked just as bad as he did.

She had ignored the countless amount of stares. Her boots dragged against the polished floor as she made her way to her seat in the back of the classroom. What was the point in staring? The students would have all day to look at her because she was pretty sure her attire wouldn't change. Her body collapsed onto the seat with a loud _thud_. This was the outcome of only getting three and a half hours of sleep. It was the outcome of staying up all night with a boy.

"Hirasawa-san!" the teacher screeched. Her voice was so loud; it sounded like a car crash. Nami just blinked her glassy eyes. At that moment, she didn't care about whatever punishment the woman gave her. As long as it got the teacher to shut up so that she could take a nap, she was fine with it. Rin let out a snore loud enough to shake the windows. But, the teacher seemed to ignore it as she adjusted her glasses with a glare. "You're the only student late today! Detention after school; you'll be cleaning for an hour. Kazuragi-san, wake up Okumura-san."

But, it didn't stop there . . .

Rin had delivered a lunch bento to her at the cafeteria. She opened it, happy to see the meal that Ukobach made for her. It was little sushi rolls decorated as pandas. It was almost too adorable to eat. Ukobach obviously put a lot of work into it for her. Though it was a pretty sight, she still used her chopsticks to put one into her mouth. She fell asleep right after that. Rin did, too; both of the teens snored with their faces buried in their untouched bentos. Izumo, Asaki, Miwa, Shiemi, Renzo, and Ryuji watched with confused faces. But, it only gets worse . . .

By the end of school, she had managed to get an extra two to three hours of sleep by spending her class time with her eyelids closed. The teacher rambled on about how it was irresponsible for getting to class late while Nami scrubbed the floors. The girl cleaned the windows, dusted everything, cleaned the chalkboard, and scraped gum from the bottoms of the desks. That one had to be the worst. Her arms were shot by four o'clock. She could have collapsed then and there. Finally, when the teacher let her leave, she stumbled through the halls to get to cram school. The cram school that she was an hour late for.

She had decided that morning that she wasn't going to sit anywhere near Rin like she had been doing. Of course, she broke that rule in class, and at lunch. It couldn't happen anymore. It was best to keep her distance. She had to pick another seat.

Her hands pushed the door to class one-one-seven-four. A part of her had expected to Yukio standing there smiling. Or at least some other teacher. That didn't happen. Rather, a woman in a red bikini top that was way to small for her huge breasts sat on the teacher's desk at the front of the class. Her body wasn't that of a teenager. Her waist resembled an hourglass, her thick hips holding her shorts up, and her white thigh highs clinging onto her thighs. Her hair was a firy red with blonde on the tips, pulled into a messy, high ponytail. She swung her brown-boot-clad feet back and forth absentmindedly. Nami didn't give the woman a second glance. A yawn passed her lips; she walked through the class to find an empty seat.

"Yo! You there! What's your name, kid?"

Nami's head turned slightly to look over at the woman sitting on the desk. She blinked before pointing a finger at her chest. "Who . . . Me?" she asked. Why was this woman calling on her out of all of the students here? The cram school instructors never really cared if a person walked in late. But, not today, apparently. This woman was going to pick on her.

"Yeah, _you_ ," the woman said. Her big lips were tilted up in a smirk. "God, you look like you were ran over by a monster truck."

Nami blinked again. She could feel the eyes of all of the students on her. Was it too much to ask to just get to her seat? "Hirasawa Nami," she answered.

What happened next surprised her. "Hirasawa's kid. Wow. You've even got his pretty-boy hair and eyes. Humph, it's been a while." The woman chuckled. Her giant chest moved with the vibrations her body was causing. They reminded her of her mother's - all out and flashy. Was it even allowed to wear something so revealing in a school? "Took your old man long enough to dump you off here. Last time I saw you, you were only a couple months old and eating your own snot like a loser."

Nami stared at the woman. _That was kind of harsh._ "And I don't know who you are, so . . .?"

The woman gave her the peace sign. "A smart ass just like Hirasawa. I'm your teacher for today. Call me Kirigakure-sensei." She looked so genuine. Though, when Rin snorted somewhere in the classroom, she shot him a glare. So much for being genuine. "Shut your mouth, Okumura."

Nami didn't care. She shuffled to the back of the classroom to avoid being the centre of attention. That didn't stop people from looking. As she walked by the tables she used to sit at, she could see Asaki watching her. The blonde was probably wondering why she wasn't sitting with her and Miwa. Her seat was right behind Rin. She didn't want to sit there. She didn't want to sit anywhere near him. There was no way she was going to risk their friendship by saying something stupid.

Instead, she plummeted down into the seat next to a boy playing with a puppet. His eyes were shut and his dirty blonde hair was messy. He didn't even glance her way, not that she was going to get up even if he wanted her to. Was this kid asleep? She put her head down on the desk. This was going to have to be her school year from now on.

"All right. I'm sure most of you are wondering why I'm here. Sorry for not being here all semester. I was on a mission for a while. But, now that I'm back, we're gonna get to work. Raise your hand if you're a page," Kirigakure-sensei commanded. Pages were the lowest form of exorcists that a person could be. They weren't even _considered_ exorcists. Nami, Asaki, and a majority of the other students raised their hands. The ones who hadn't were exwires: not exactly exorcists, but still went on tiny missions that were meaningless for the big guys. Big guys like Yukio. "Humph, there's more of you guys than I thought. The Exwire Authorization Test will start next week. After that, you'll start running maintenance missions like these guys -" She motioned a hand over to where Rin and his friends were sitting, and added, ". . . if you pass. If you don't, you're back to square one. Next month, the exwires will be taking the Meister Authorization Test -"

She was cut off by the sound of cheering. Nami cracked an eye open to see Rin throwing his fist into the air. What was he going to do _now_? "About time!" he shouted with a smile. "I've been waiting an entire year for this!"

"It's tough, kid. Don't be surprised if they make you wait another year." A smirk spread across Kirigakure-sensei's face. Rin scowled, putting his fist down as Nami lifted her head. The pages were going to become exwires? "But, for today, let's have some fun, shall we? Since Tsubaki ran away to go find his wife - or kitten, or whatever - I'll be your Physical Education teacher. Go change, you're about to run your asses off. Meet me in the PE room in twenty minutes."

Harmonious groans rang throughout the classroom. Chairs were shoved backwards as students slowly climbed to their feet. Nami grabbed onto her bag. Asaki was at her side within seconds of moving around the zombie-like students. She shoved her key into the lock of one of the doors in the hallway to bring them to their dorm room. They were stuck doing PE. Why did cram school have its own PE? Wasn't the school one good enough?

Once the door was closed behind them, she stripped out of her clothes. Asaki took her precious time. The blonde made sure that her uniform wouldn't get wrinkled during the process. Nami didn't have time for that. She dug through her stack of uniforms until she found her PE clothes. It wasn't that hard to get dressed, but Asaki was making this easy. The school's PE uniform consisted of dark purple joggers and a matching jacket. She pulled on a black tank top underneath hers so that she could leave her jacket unzipped. There was no reason to close it up in May.

Asaki didn't do anything similar. Nami watched her get dressed as she laced up her gym shoes. Her cousin replaced the jacket entirely for a blue tank top. She had braided a crown on her head to keep her hair in place. She had even changed her earrings. All of this was in under ten minutes. Nami couldn't help but to wonder how she did that. This girl was always able to get dressed in twenty minutes or less. When the blonde finished, she used the key to get them back into the cram school building. That was fast.

The hallways were filled with students heading in the same direction. The eggplant-coloured uniforms didn't stand out against the dark colour scheme in the halls at all. In fact, they almost blended in with it. The two girls followed which way the students were walking in since they didn't know the way there. Some of the classroom doors were open along the way. She walked passed the first-year classroom, seeing Yukio talking to a bunch of students.

"Oi, Nami!"

She didn't know who she was expecting when she turned around. Her head turned to see Rin and Shiemi. Who else would it be? They were coming their way with their newly changed attires. Nami had only gotten a chance to see him dressed in anything other than the school uniform once, so this time surprised her, too. To see him in the required purple joggers instead of his black skinny jeans. In a black baseball jersey with the number eighty-seven on the back instead of his white button up. She almost puked then and there. How could someone look so good in everything? He didn't care about being in his PE uniform correctly, just like his regular school clothes.

But, Shiemi looked cute next to him. Her huge chest made the PE jacket appear tight on her. Nami felt her stomach drop. The jacket was zipped up to her neck, yet she still managed to look adorable. Who looked great in PE clothes? Shiemi, Rin, and Asaki, that's who. Whipping her head around so hard that her snowy ponytail snapped in the air, she marched away from the three. If she chose to stick around any longer, her resolve would come crumbling down. She didn't want to become a bumbling idiot in front of him. Because that's what he does. He makes her act like an idiot who has just discovered what water is. She didn't like that feeling.

The PE room was huge. The walls were a gray concrete to match the flooring. The room was shaped like a circle. There were two levels to that circle: the one that you entered in, and the huge drop in the middle. She joined the other students in sitting on the edge of the first level. They were sitting so close to it that their legs dangled off of the side. The spot next to her was soon occupied by Asaki. She didn't mind her cousin sitting next to her. Izumo collapsed down next to the blonde. The purple-haired girl wasn't too bad. On the other side of Nami, though, Rin sat down. Her breath suddenly felt laboured. They couldn't sit near each other. Getting up, she went to go sit next to the puppet kid again by the wall. As long as it was away from him, she could function. And this had only began recently. At first, she could tolerate being in his presence. Now, she was getting dragged around like a dumb heroine in a story, trying to do anything the guy of her dreams tells her to do. Nope, not here. She was too independent for that.

Plus, she didn't want to jeopardize their friendship by doing anything drastic. He admitted that he had liked Shiemi. It would be a matter of time until that started back it. Hell, it was a matter of time until _every_ guy liked Shiemi.

Something spoke out, making the talking students go quiet. "Great." The voice came from Kirigakure-sensei. She waved at the students from the bottom floor. Only a handful of them waved back. Her hot pink eyes gazed over the clipboard in her hands. "Pages, get down here. You're doing drills. Exwires, I want sixty push-ups. The last one to finish has to run a mile."

The exwire students dropped onto their bellies before the words could even fully leave her mouth. Everyone seemed to be groaning as the pages slid down to the bottom floor. Before she left, too, Nami could see Rin and Ryuji competing to finish first. Izumo, Renzo, Miwa, and the puppet kid were steadily doing theirs. Shiemi was trying to keep up with them. The blonde would fall back down after every three push-ups. Her arms were wobbling all over the place. Nami felt bad for her, but that was before she knew what she was going to be doing.

Kirigakure-sensei made sure the group of pages stood side by side in a line. "You guys will be running from your spot in the line where you are, then to the cones, then repeat until I say stop," she explained, motioning to the orange traffic cones station about thirty feet away. There was another round of groans. They would be running back and forth. "Give me one hundred of these and you're done "If you get tired, you can quit . . . but you'll regret it." Regret it? The flame-haired woman blew the gym whistle around her neck. "Go!"

Nami took off running with the other students to get to the cones. She was one of the first students to get to the cones. The others came trailing after them. Kirigakure-sensei blew her whistle again, and they started running. She blew it again as soon as they got to the other side. They turned around, running back to the orange cones. They were supposed to do one hundred of these? She was the type of person to sleep all day. How was she supposed to do this? Here she was, feeling bad for the exwires for having to do push-ups, but those guys had it easy.

People started dropping out after around the thirtieth one. She had made sure that she didn't slow down. Those who didn't make it to the cones in time before the whistle were disqualified. Asaki was getting tired judging by her huffing and puffing. Her sprinting had been decreased to a slow run. Nami was growing tired as well. Why did they have to do this much exorcise? Where they going to have to do this on the field? The eleven or so pages running had drifted down to about six.

On the forty-second whistle, she could hear someone yelling from the top floor. "You can do it, Asa-chan, Nami-chan!"

Trying to keep her breathing controlled, Nami's green eyes trailed up while she ran. Shiemi was yelling down at them. Her arm waved in the air for encouragement. Beside her, Renzo was flashing a thumbs up. Strands of his pink hair was sticking to his forehead from the sweat. They had already finished their push-ups. Even Rin was watching the pages run. He had been sitting criss-crossed, his elbow on his knee and his chin rested in the palm of his hand. His wasn't sticking to his forehead despite all of the push-ups. She looked into his eyes, and he gave her a faint smile. It wasn't one of those bright smiles because he could probably tell that she was avoiding him. But, it was a smile nonetheless - one of those grins that could melt the iciest of hearts - and it still made her nauseous . . . and clumsy . . . It was such a pretty smile . . .

 _Bang!_

"Nami!"

She had tripped over her feet. Her attention had been so wrapped up in him to keep track of her running. Her body came tumbling onto the concrete face first. She tried to catch herself before she hurt herself. A groan escaped her lips; her knee was no doubt banged up from saving her. There were a bunch of rushed footsteps before someone grabbed a hold of her arm. They were helping her stand up. She could feel the callouses and the heat in their large hand. She looked up, seeing those familiar blue eyes.

"You fell pretty bad," he said. Or, at least, it sounded like he did. Her mind was side tracked. His words seemed to come out in slow motion, and she was seeing double. "You okay? Is your leg all right? Are you listening to me? Oi!"

Oh, god, she was getting nauseous. The concern on his face was too much. Just the look in his eye was making her head spin . . . a little too much. She stumbled onto her feet, shoving him away from her her. He took a few steps back. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. Oh, god, his eyebrows. This room had to have one; every room should have one. Her eyes shifted around the room in search of the item. There it was. She ran over, gripping the sides of it and putting her head inside, before hurling the contents of her stomach into the trashcan. The class grimaced in unison as the sounds of retching filled the room. Great. He actually made her sick. He had made her so sick that her stomach couldn't take it. Was that normal?

She threw up again.

It probably wasn't.

Kirigakure-sensei walked over with a box of tissues. She held it out to Nami. The white-haired teen took a few of the tissues, wiping her mouth with them. "That was gross. Are you sick or something?" she asked. Nami shook her head. If her stomach hadn't been empty, she definitely would have thrown up a second time. "Do you have anxiety?"

"Sure," Nami lied. It was partially the truth. She got it whenever he was around her. She looked down at her knee. The purple fabric of her joggers was getting stained by the blood seeping through it. "Great . . ."

Kirigakure-sensei nodded. "You've gotta get that under control if you're gonna become an exorcist. Maybe you should go to the nurse's office -"

"I'll take her!" Shiemi offered, walking over to the two. Kirigakure-sensei nodded and the blonde smiled at Nami. Great. "Let's go Nami-chan."

Nami sighed, walking to the door by herself. None of this would have happened if she stuck to the plan and avoided Rin like she was supposed to. He was the source of all of her misfortunes. He probably thought that she was some kind of weirdo now. She had almost tripped on the way out, too. She was a train wreck. A train wreck with a crush. She wanted to bang her head against the wall. He'd eventually have her doing that, anyways. It's been two days now. She's liked him for two days now, and it has been possibly the worst two days of her life.

Pain shot up her leg every time she stepped. Even though they were almost at the nurse's office, she had refused to ask for Shiemi's help. She wasn't sure why she was upset with the blonde. Why she suddenly found herself comparing herself to the blonde every chance she got. What had Shiemi done to her? Nothing but try to be nice. Why was she acting like this? Because Rin liked her. Was she so far gone that she had stooped down to the level of jealousy?

Shiemi tapped her shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked in her velvety voice. Nami didn't answer. "Do you need help -"

"Leave me alone. I'm fine."

Nami limped through the halls. She didn't need help from anyone right now. Not ever. What she needed to do was get far away. Away from the things that would ultimately lead to her combustion. Shiemi followed behind her quietly. As they walked into the cram school's nurse's office, Nami crossed her arms over her chest. The nurse turned to look at them. Her brown eyes were hidden a bit behind the shine of her glasses.

Shiemi bowed behind Nami. "Excuse me," she said.

The nurse rushed over to the two girls. "Oh, you're limping! What happened?"

"Hirasawa Nami from class one-one-four-seven tripped and hurt her knee. Kirigakure-sensei told me to bring her," Shiemi explained. "She also threw up . . . twice."

"Oh, dear . . ." The nurse brought up a chair for Nami to sit in. Even she probably thought that she was a mess. But, if she did, she did a good job of hiding it. The nurse turned to give Shiemi a smile. "Thank you for walking her over here. She's in good hands. You can go back to class now."

Shiemi nodded and left. The nurse put on a pair of latex gloves. She made sure to make the snapping sound with them. Nami winced, watching as the woman got out her materials. When the woman commanded for her to pull the leg of her joggers up, she did. The scrape was worse than she thought it would be. In fact, it wasn't even a scrape. It was an actual cut. It was no wonder it hurt so much. Blood ran down the girls' leg in small, crimson trails. Had she cut herself on a rock? Luckily, the cut itself wasn't deep. It was already no longer bleeding as much.

The nurse proceeded to clean the wound. Nami winced as she wiped up the blood. The area was still sensitive. "What caused you to throw up? Food poisoning? Are you sick?" the nurse asked. Nami shook her head. It was none of those. "Are you pregnant?"

Her face scrunched up. "No." Her? Pregnant? Never in a million years. She winced once again.

"Do you have anxiety?" the woman tried. Why did everyone thing that she had anxiety? He made her feel anxious and lightheaded, so did that count as anxiety. Especially that smile. She shrugged and nodded her head. Sighing, the nurse began applying antibiotics. "That makes a lot of sense. Try not to get so worked up next time, okay? Try breathing exercises."

The nurse patched up her cut. Once she was taken care of - a giant band-aid on her knee - she was discharged. She walked throughout the halls with her hands deep in the pockets of her joggers. The nurse said that she could either go home, or return to PE. It would be best for her to return. If she didn't she would be missing out on exercising. She walked past the PE room. Rin was sitting on the floor laughing with Shiemi. Her stomach dropped at the view of them. Nope, it'd be best if she went home.

She pulled out her key to use it on the nearest door. The key was inserted into the key hole, and turned until she heard the sound of something unlocking. Her hand gripped around the knob, opening it after taking the key out. She was back in dorm room six-six-seven. Maybe she should take a nap to clear her head. Sleep sounded nice. She pulled off the jacket and tossed it onto her bed. Sleep should help.

That was, until her phone rang. She sat on her bed. Green eyes scanned over the name flashing across the screen. It was her mother calling. She slid her thumb against the screen to answer it, pressing the device against her ear. "Hello?" she greeted.

"Nami!" her mother all but screamed. Nami shut her eyes once her head started throbbing. Was her mother always this loud? She could already imagine her on the other side of the line. Her mother would be rushed around the house with her dark hair pulled into a bun. An apron would be around her waist because she was always cooking. "I haven't talked to you in so long! How are you? How is Asaki? Have you been eating your vegetables? Is Mephisto treating you well?"

She laid back in her bed. To be honest, her mother's voice was comforting. "I'm okay, Mama. Asaki is okay, too. I haven't really seen Mephisto, though," she answered.

"Well, tell me about your day?" her mother offered. Ana always was a polite woman.

But, Nami decided to hit her with the hard news first. "I puked in class today."

"What?!"

Before her mother could bombard her with questions, another voice cut her off. This one was much deeper. "Is that my daughter?! Pass the phone!" There was rumbling on the other side of the line. Then, he father's Japanese filled her ears. "Nami? How've you been?"

"I'm okay, Dad." She missed him. His voice alone was making her realize that. She had never been away from for him this long in her entire life, as crazy as that sounded. Her dad was just . . . always there. Perhaps that was the reason that he became a retired exorcist: to stay with her. "I met a woman named Kirigakure today. She said that she met me when I was a couple months old."

"That loud mouth." Dad huffed while she laughed. "She used to hang out with the old Paladin, Fujimoto, a lot. Shura was always following him around and sticking her tongue out at me. When you were born, she was around nine-years-old, so I'm surprised she remembers that. I remember when I brought you to the Order with me for the first and last time, you were only about a couple months old. I gave you to Fujimoto to hold, so Shura just _had_ to hold you, too. She almost dropped you. She kept saying -" Nami cleared her throat to let her father know that he was rambling. "My bad. Anyways, how's cram school going? Did you learn a lot?"

Nami nodded even thought she knew that he couldn't see it. "Yup, I learned that every staff member knows you," she mumbled. She could hear him scratching the back of his neck, saying something about him being a popular guy. "And we'll be taking the Exwire Authorization Test next week."

"That's great. Ah, my baby's growing up so fast."

"What kind of meister were you?"

"I was a knight. What did you decide to -"

"Ask her why she threw up!"

"You threw up? Why did you throw up? Are you sick? Should I come get you?" Her father swarmed her with questions and she found herself rolling her eyes. He was the most over protective person in the world. He flipped out over every little thing, which is why they didn't tell him about things like this. She grabbed a sheet of paper off of her dresser, and crumbled it into the phone. "What is that?"

"D . . . I can't . . . you . . . breaking . . . call you back." With that, she hung up the phone. She tossed it to the side, falling back onto her bed. "Damn it . . ."

How was she supposed to explain to her parents that she had a crush that made her vomit? She couldn't. She couldn't tell them about his messy hair, bright smile, blue eyes, thick eyebrows, strong jaw, how he towered over her . . . and his lean muscles - she shook her head. She was turning into a trashcan. She was the definition of garbage. She couldn't tell her parents about how he made her feel lightheaded. About how he made her knees shake. And how he had transformed her into a complete social retard in a matter of two days.

Two days.

Two days and she couldn't even walk straight when he was around. She buried her face into her pillow. Maybe she should just avoid him all together. Maybe they should stop being friends. That would solve a lot of problems. That would give her enough time to get over him. Then they could go back to being friends, if he still wanted to stick around.

This entire situation was stressful. Why couldn't she have developed a crush on someone else? Why did she have to develop one at all? Renzo was cute with his messy bubble gum pink hair and soft brown eyes. Why couldn't she like him? Yukio was the definition of gorgeous. Why couldn't she like him? He would have been so much easier on her. But no, her life hates her. Now she was stuck tripping all over the place and vomiting into trashcans over a boy with surgically modified elf ears.

And what the hell was up with that anyway? Was he one of those punk kids? Did he have any other body modifications that she didn't know about? Did he have any piercings or tattoos. Her head felt light again.

Why was she thinking about this? She was supposed to be moving on with her life. Moving on far away from Rin.

She rolled over to bury herself deep into her blankets. A nap would make her feel better. It was a good way to start this new life. This new life without her only friend.

* * *

 **SHE WOKE UP** the next morning to the sound of Asaki getting dressed. The blonde was pulling up her white, knee high socks. The sunlight was shining into their room like usual. It held a certain haze that made her feel like she was still asleep. It felt like a dream. But, the reflection shining in her eyes from Asaki's earrings proved that it wasn't. This wasn't a dream. It was all too real.

Her hand crawled around her bed to find her phone. It was a shot in the dark since her eyes had squeezed shut. Once she found it she pulled it over to her face to look at it. Her reflection was showing on the screen. She looked like she had been through Gehenna and back. The time flashes across the screen with a press of a button. It was only six-thirty in the morning. But, that wasn't the only thing that flashed across the screen. There were three text messages and two missed calls.

 **Missed Call from HOME - 7:15 pm**

 **Missed Call from RIN - 7:45 pm**

 **Text Message from RIN - "You feeling better?" - 7:48 pm**

 **Text Message from RIN - "Oi!" - 8:10 pm**

 **Text Message from RIN - "Did I do something wrong?" - 9:00 pm**

The last text was followed by two confused emojis. Her chest suddenly felt like it was collapsing. So much for moving on with life. How was she supposed to move on with life with him constantly reminding her that she was a wreck. She had felt so powerful before she read his texts, but not anymore. She placed her phone on the charger since she forgot to do it yesterday. She didn't have the heart to. Or, rather, she did have the heart to, she just didn't know if her knees and stomach did.

She climbed out of bed and grabbed her uniform today. Deciding to wear black tights instead of her thigh highs, she marched out of the room to go to the bathrooms. Most of the girls were probably still asleep because it was so early. She walked into the classroom. To her surprise, Izumo was in there drying her hair with a towel. A girl with short, light brown hair stood next to her. The girl waved at Nami as she walked in. Nami gave the girl one, too, sharing a blank glance with Izumo. If she was going to start this process of shutting people out, she needed to go all of the way.

She turned on one of the showers and grabbed one of the towels. Since she was early, she would wash her hair. It felt so weird to be up. A good percentage of her life had been spent waking up before noon. This was such a change. It was most likely because she went to sleep around four-thirty yesterday.

Izumo looked over at her as Nami pulled her shirt off. "You missed the lesson yesterday," she stated. Her voice was monotone with no emotion. She wished that she could have no emotion. It must be fun. "You should start paying attention if you want to get anywhere, page. I'll become _upper class_ by the time you become an exwire."

Nami didn't say anything. She continued getting undressed and climbed into the shower, closing the curtain behind her. Izumo was right. She came here to study. Everyone but her apparently seemed to have their heads screwed on tight. Even Asaki was paying better attention than her. It was Saturday, the last day of school before their weekend break. She needed to take notes so that she could buckle down and do some reading.

She could hear a few more people coming into the bathroom. She put her head under the stream of water. The white strands clung to her body like her cousin when they haven't seen each other in nine hours. Reaching up, she worked her shampoo through it, making sure to be careful to not get it all knotted up. When she was done washing up, she wrapped a towel around herself, getting out to get dressed. Izumo was no longer there and neither was her friend. She let out a breath before drying off.

It only took her a few minutes to get dressed and brush her teeth.

She had pulled her hair up into a bun on the top of her head since it was wet. She walked back to their dorm room to check if Asaki was there. Indeed, the blonde was there, putting the finishing touches on her outfit for the day. Her head snapped up to look at Nami. Nami grabbed her phone and walked out of the room with her in tow.

Maybe if she could get to class early enough, she could pick a different seat. She didn't want to sit by him today. She didn't know if she would be able to sit by him. Now that she knew that he turned her into a literal water fountain, she wasn't going to take her chances. She split up with Asaki as they went to their classrooms. The blonde instantly joined up with Izumo. Nami walked into her class. Only four or five other students were there. She took a seat by the window. There were kids sitting in front of her and behind her. She took out her notebook and her pen.

Within minutes, the class began to fill up. The spots around her within a three seat radius were taken. Rin walked into class at seven-fifty. She didn't know why she had kept track of that. His eyebrows furrowed once he seen the two empty seats in the back of the class. Where they sat. She looked out of the window. Anything to avoid eye contact with him.

Someone tapped on her shoulder. She turned around to see the familiar brown-haired girl from a few days ago. Yamada Minori. "Good morning, Nami," the girl greeted with a smile. "Are you still going with us to karaoke tomorrow? My friend decided that she was lonely, so it'll be sort of a mixer thing. It's fine if you don't want to go anymore because of that."

A mixer? Was that one of those places where people go to meet other people? It was where girls went to get boyfriends. Did those actually work? There would be a lot of people there. If she went, there was a chance that she would make new friends. She needed different friends anyways, since she vowed to break it off with the one she already had.

"Will there be boys there?" she asked. Maybe it could help her get her mind off of things. The girl nodded. "I'm still going, then."

Minori smiled, writing something on a piece of paper that she ripped out from her notebook. "Here's my number. Call me tomorrow. Eiko and I will pick you up from your dorm."

Nami nodded as the teacher walked into the room. The classroom went silent. Were Minori and Eiko going to be her new friends after tomorrow? Hopefully so. She was well aware that she sounded like a desperate loner, but that was kind of the truth. She wasn't the most sociable person in the world, so this all was still a learning experience for her.

"When I call your name, raise your hand."

She looked out of the window again as the teacher took roll call. Good things had to be happening tomorrow. She could feel it.

"Hagiwara Sachiko?"

"Here!"

"Hirasawa Namiko?"

She raised her hand. "Here," she mumbled. The teacher nodded and checked her as present.

Tomorrow could be the day that she learned how to walk again. If that was possible. It could be the day she developed a crush on some guy at karaoke. They'll sing terribly and he'll buy her something to eat. Then he'll tell her that he's irritated about the idiots in today's society. That would spark up a conversation. They would talk all night . . .

"Okumura Rin?"

Then he'd chuckle at one of her insults. He would have the best laugh ever. But, at the end of the date, he'll lean over and say -

"Here . . ."

She hit her head against the desk. "No, you're not supposed to say that, stupid!" she practically shouted. All eyes were on her in confusion. She lifted her head up, her face growing red. It was the morning and she had already done something stupid. She blinked twice. "Uh . . ."

"What else is he supposed to say, then?" the teacher asked carefully. "And whatever your problem is against Okumura-san, please stop blurting it out. There is no need for that belittling language here."

She waved him off with her hand. "Sorry. Ignore me."

Though she received strange looks throughout the day, the teacher proceeded like it didn't happen. She was thankful for that. She didn't need to feel anymore stupid than what she already did.

When the lunch bell rang, she was the first one out of the classroom. She had made sure to get tangled in the mess of students to keep someone from spotting her. She didn't even look for Asaki. Despite seeing that Rin had brought her lunch - curtesy of Ukobach - she sat alone. She didn't bother going to get something to eat. As long as she sat far away, she was fine.

Even in cram school, she made sure there was a four desk radius between her and the group of exwires. A seat next to the puppet boy seemed to be a regular. Not that he minded. He looked like he was asleep most of the time. Over five students had dropped out of cram school since yesterday's PE class. There were now twelve students rather than seventeen. It just meant that there were more empty seats in the class.

Kirigakure-sensei went on to explain more things to the students. The Exwire Authorization Test consisted of a written test and a field test. The written test was going to be next Friday, the field test the day after that. Nami wrote all of the details down so that she could study. She would use this as a way to keep focused for the rest of the week.

She was going to make sure that this was a good week. She would make sure that tomorrow would be a good day. No one could tell her otherwise.

Not even boys with surgically modified elf ears.

* * *

 **Just a quick note: Japanese high schools usually only have Sundays off instead of Saturdays and Sundays. Their weekends are usually only one day :)**

 **~ Insane**


	7. Rifle Bullets

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

* * *

 **Thank you to _thepharo_ , _WeepingAngels626_ , , _JokersBatman_ , _I'mAddictedToFanfiction_ , and _Akiiiw_ for favouriting and/or reviewing. Also, a special, big thank you to _Guest_ , _Kotoki_ - _chan_ , and _KnightOwl247_ for your reviews!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER SIX**

 **RIFLE BULLETS**

 **"All that I want is for someone to look at me the way that you do."**  
 **\- Unknown**

* * *

 **MINORI CALLED NAMI'S** phone at exactly five o'clock.

Though she would have rather had it any other way, she woke up in a pool of her own drool. Her pillow was drenched in the liquid. Asaki wasn't in the room when she looked around. The girl was most likely hanging out with Izumo. The two hang been hanging out together recently despite their different personalities. Perhaps that was the reason why she waking up alone on a Sunday. But, that didn't explain why she was waking up at five o'clock. She sat up and wiped the drool from her mouth with the back of her hand, eyes looking for the ringing cellphone. Had she been so caught up in sleep that she had slept the whole day away?

She wouldn't be surprised. It's happened before.

"What?" Her voice came out as a groggy mess when she answered the phone. It was heavy with the after effects of sleeping for over ten hours. Not that she minded. It wasn't like her voice didn't sound like it every other way. A hand reached up to wipe the sleep from her eyes as she yawned, asking, "Minori?"

The voice of the other side of the line was definitely that of the cheery brunette. How was it possible that she sounded polite even over the phone? "Nami-san? Hey! I was just calling to tell you that Eiko and I will be there in thirty minutes to pick you up. Are you ready?"

Nami looked down at the wrinkly tee-shirt and shorts that she had slept in. "Yes," she lied. She wasn't ready, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be in thirty minutes. "Just let me know when you're here, okay?"

Minori agreed, and the two hung up the call. Now, on to more important things. She had been so convinced that she would be able to get dressed in thirty minutes. However, now that she thought about it, that might not be true. At least she had taken a shower last night before bed; she wouldn't have to take one this morning. Throwing a leg off of the edge of her bed, her mind raked through all of the clothes that she had that wasn't a uniform. Should she dress cute, summery, reserved, casually? This was the first time that she's ever went out to hang with _potential friends_ , so she did not have one clue.

Maybe casual would be fine . . .

She made quick work of getting dressed. A gray knitted sweater, dark blue skinny jeans, and a pair of Asaki's shoes. That should be fine, right? It could be casual or somewhat dressed up depending on the setting. The sweater would keep her from getting cold if they stayed out too late . . . She wanted to frown. When had she stopped caring about her _clothes_? They were just there to keep her from walking around naked. Her hands forced a comb through her hair. What the hell had she been thinking nowadays?

There was a knock on the door right after she came back to her dorm room from brushing her teeth and washing her face. She tied the ribbon into her half ponytail, and opened the door. Minori and Eiko stood there with smiles on their faces. They each were clad in casual clothing. It was a good thing she hadn't gotten too dressed up.

Eiko gave a bright wave. Her brownish black hair had been pulled into a side bun, showing off her delicate features. Jeez, this girl was pretty. "Heya, Nami-san! Are you ready to go?" she asked. Nami nodded; she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. "The karaoke place is outside of the academy. We have to take the bus out of here."

The bus? They were going to go through that tunnel? They were going to go back down to Tokyo. Did these girls know that the school was floating? Mephisto had warned her not to tell the regular school students anything, so she was guessing that was a negative. It had been a little beyond two weeks since she had been on this floating school. Would she be able to tell the difference between the two grounds?

Minori led the two girls out of the girls' dorm, and started for the school's front gates. She had a habit of kicking rocks, Nami noticed, seeing as how she threw her foot at any pebble in her path. "So," she started. Her honey-coloured eyes slid over to Nami's green ones. "How old are you? When's your birthday?"

"I'm sixteen. My birthday is July fifth, so I'll be seventeen in two months," Nami answered. Just saying that made her feel old.

Eiko grinned. "Aw, you're turning seventeen? I just turned seventeen a few weeks ago. I sure do miss being sixteen."

Nami wanted to snort, but she knew that it wouldn't be a good way to get friends. "What's so good about being sixteen? You still get treated like a kid," she said instead. She couldn't wait until she was seventeen. The older kids at this school got treated like royalty. Even the first years were jealous of them.

"Sometimes being treated like a kid can be a privilege." Eiko shrugged her bony shoulders.

"She's only saying that because her boyfriend called her old." Minori giggled. Eiko shot her friend a look. "He's a first year. They started dating when he was in his third year of middle school and she was a first year in high school. Poor kid. Only fifteen-years-old and has to put up with a seventeen-year-old."

Eiko crossed her arms over her chest with a blush. "For your information, Tadashi asked _me_ out first," she grumbled. "You said it like I prey on little kids."

"Your choice on whether to say no or not."

"Shut up, Minori! He's cute; how am I supposed to say no?"

They approached the front gates of the school. They were open so that students could come and go as they pleased. A few students were hanging around the gate, waiting for the bus to come pick them up. Someone called out Eiko's name, making the three girls look toward the crowd of students. A boy with messy brown hair and big brown eyes waved to them. She didn't even need to ask who he was. Eiko ran over to the boy before she could ask. Her arms wrapped around the boy's neck, and he spun her around. It must feel nice to not throw up in front of your crush . . .

Minori clicked her tongue. "Ugh, those two act like they don't go to the same school and see each other every day. It's gross, don't you think, Nami-san?" she asked. Nami didn't know what to say. It wasn't exactly gross, but it wasn't exactly adorable, either. Minori patted her shoulder, saying, "Don't worry. I'm single. You don't have to worry about me ditching you to make out with some boy."

The boy - Tadashi - put Eiko down, and glanced in Minori's direction. He _was_ cute. His hair, a head of soft curls, were piled atop of his head in messy waves. His eyes were a chocolaty brown, flecks of green hidden in them. And then there was his smile. It was a breathtaking grin. He looked like something out of a magazine . . . just like his girlfriend. There was no way he was only fifteen. "I smell jealousy, Yamada-senpai," he told Minori. She shot him a glare. "Who's your friend?"

"Tadashi, this is Hirasawa Nami. Nami-san, this is Wakahisa Tadashi - also known as the baby first year."

Tadashi narrowed his eyes at Minori, and waved to be. "Nice to meet you, Hirasawa-san." He tone was sincere and polite. This way was like something straight out of a fairy tale. He couldn't be real. "Are you going to karaoke with us?"

"Mmhmm." Nami nodded. "And there's no reason to call me by my last name. Nami is fine."

The bus pulled up. It was one of those buses that only allowed for students to get on. Each person had to flash their school ID to get on. It didn't surprise her, though. It kept ordinary people from getting to the school in the sky. Nami sat down next to Minori since Eiko looked so caught up with her boyfriend. They hadn't released their hold on each other since they had joined up with Tadashi. Neither of them threw up _once_. It was such a privilege because every time she was around the person that she liked (he who shall not be named) she turned into a literal fountain.

They were holding hands when they got off the bus. They had been dropped off somewhere in central Tokyo. She noticed that Minori would shoot the couple disinterested looks every now and then. It wasn't any of Nami's business. She just followed behind. What those three had going on between them did not concern her. But, one thing did . . .

"This is the place?"

Eiko turned to give Nami a warm smile. "Namikawa Karaoke. Yup, this is the place. We come here all the time. You don't have to be nervous."

She followed behind them into the building. A few people were walking around the lobby of the building. Minori said something to the receptionist. It was already six o'clock. If there was going to be some type of mixer or something, where was everyone? Minori flashed them a thumbs up and walked down one of the halls. Where were they going? Before the teen had a chance to ask, Minori threw open the door to one of the rooms.

Inside was a room about the size of three of the girls' dorms. The walls were a pale pink; bright lights were everywhere to keep the room well lit. There were speakers hanging on the walls along with a flat screen television. The walls were lined with seats, and there was a table in the middle of the room with drinks people had ordered. Though, the thing that Nami had instantly noticed was the amount of people. There were about six girls . . . and ten boys. Sixteen pairs of eyes snapped up to stare at the three who had just entered. Wow, there were a lot of people.

One of the girls stood up - a perky ginger with tanned skin - to hug Minori. "You guys made it! You just missed Rai's singing. It was hilarious!" she squealed. Nami shifted uncomfortably. Was she going to have to socialize with all of these people? She barely liked talking to her own parents half the time. As if reading her mind, the ginger girl's attention went to her. "Oh, you must be Hirasawa-san! I'm Suzume! Minori-chan said that she was bringing you. She failed to mention how cute you were, though."

She sent a wink Nami's way. Minori nudged the white-haired girl, whispering, "Suzume is as straight as a tire."

 _Straight as a tire._ Oh. Suzume was flirting with her. She had only been here for ten seconds, and someone was already flirting with her.

Should that be a good thing?

"Come on, stop stalling, Suzume! It's your turn!"

Suzume rushed off into the crowd of people. No one here looked over the age of eighteen. They could have all been True Cross Academy students for all she knew. Eiko pulled Tadashi further into the room to grab a seat. Luckily, Minori seemed set on not leaving Nami alone. She put her hands on Nami's shoulders, steering her into the group of high school students. She sat them down next to a boy who people kept referring to as Rai. He must have been the funny one who had just sang. His hair was a bright turquoise, held back with a dark blue headband to go with his dark blue eyes. She would have thought they were black if it had not been for the blue undertones of them. They were nice.

Minori sent him him a wave. "Oh, look who's here. Rai . . ." she awknowledged. Rai flashed a smile. The two lip rings embedded into his bottom lip moved with the movement. They were nice, too. Minori motioned a hand over to Nami. "Rai, this is Nami. She's a little aloof, so don't get offended by it. Nami, this is Raiden. He's very stupid, so if he says something that makes no sense, think nothing of it."

"You were always terrible at introducing people." His voice came out as velvety and deep. That was also very nice. He held out a large hand for her to shake. "What's up."

Nami reluctantly shook it. "Hello."

"Okay, now that you're aquaintented, I'm going to order something to drink. Take care of her for me, Rai. Nami-san, if he does anything stupid, snatch the rings out of his lip. You wouldn't be the first girl to do that."

Nami watched as Minori stood up. Rai's mouth fell open. Light flashed against a piece of metal in his mouth. A tongue piercing. No, _two_ tongue piercings. Was he another one of those punk kids? In that moment, Nami found herself wondering how many other piercings he had. "Shut it, Yamada!" he teased. His words were followed by silence. The two of them were alone . . . Well, alone with about twenty other people in the room.

But, she just had to find out. "How many piercings do you have?" she asked.

He turned to look at her with wide, midnight blue eyes. Then, he let out a laugh. It was a deep, contagious, and shuddering laugh. "You're curious, huh? Not a lot of people ask me that. They're usually too scared to talk to me at first. _Interesting_." There was that god damned word again. He counted on his fingers, adding, "Twelve . . . for now."

Twelve? He pulled his hair back to reveal the earrings embedded into his ears. There was about four in each. She found herself wondering if he had surgically modified any part of his body. Like he who shall not be named. She wanted to kick herself in the face. She came here to stop thinking about him, not to compare every guy here to him. She was acting like garbage again.

Rai clicked his tongue. She could hear the faint sound of metal moving around in his mouth. "Did they hurt?" she asked. "How do you eat?"

"The lips don't hurt, the tongues only hurt for a few minutes, and the ears hurt like a bitch, as strange as that sounds. You eat like normal. You forget that they're there after a while," he answered. "So, what school do you go to?"

"True Cross Academy."

"No way, me, too." She stared at him. He went to True Cross? How had she not noticed a guy like _him_ there. He stood out above nearly everyone in this room. "What year are you in?"

"Second."

"Ah, that's why I've never met you. Second years and third years are separated. But, I've could have sworn I've seen you around somewhere. I know! Okumura teaches you, right?"

He was seventeen or eighteen in his third and final year of high school. Was he an exorcist? Instead of asking, she played dumb. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing . . ."

He dropped the subject. She had been hoping that he would continue. She wanted to know if Rai was an exorcist or not. A few other people came over as she waited for Minori to come back. They introduced themselves to her before snatching Rai away to sing another song. The turquoise-head wasn't the best singer, but what he lacked in talent, he made up in making people laugh. Whenever the microphone was in his hands, people would double over in laughter. Even Nami herself found herself smiling at his antics. Perhaps she should let her guard down more often.

By seven o'clock, she was tired of smiling. Minori walked over with her drink in hand. She collapsed into the empty seat by Nami, crossing one leg over the other. "Having fun, Nami-san? I see you're loosening up. Suzume hasn't shut up about you since you walked in here," she teased lightly. "Oi, can you do me a favour? We're really thirty and I'm out of money. Can you pay for the next round of drinks? I'll pay you back."

She was enjoying herself so much that she didn't care. The fact that she was a lazy grump didn't even occur to her. "Sure. What do you want?"

"Pepsi's?"

Nami nodded, making her way passed the group of people to leave the room. Wait until she told Asaki about this. The platinum blonde would have a heart attack. Nami was never one to be social. She preferred to keep to herself all of her life. It was for the reason of never really having friends. But now, with everyone being so friendly to her, she was beginning to think otherwise.

She ordered the drinks at the concessions stand. The woman behind the counter told her that the round of drinks would be delivered. With that taken care of, she made her way back to the room.

Her favourites there had to be Rai and Minori. They had been nothing but kind to her since she met them. Especially Rai, who had made her smile on numerous accounts. Genuinely smile. Though it had been to the expense of the many people that he referred to as 'fucking losers' in the room, it was still funny. Not many people were able to do that. Only her father and her uncle.

"Are you kidding me, Rai? She's an idiot! I even tricked her into buying all of us drinks!"

Nami froze. Her hand was on the handle of the door. The voice that spoke inside had sounded an awful lot like Minori. Was it her? Whoever it was, they were talking about her, and the whole room was paying attention."

"How could anyone be that stupid? She thought we actually wanted to be friends with her. Ha! Why would anyone want to be friends with a poor little middle-class girl like that? Did she honestly think we would stoop that low? Nami the Idiot, eh?"

 _Poor little middle-class girl?_

Laughter rang throughout the room inside. These people were just using her? They had lied about wanted to be friends with her to embarrass her. Her hand gripped around the doorknob. There were very little things that Nami could tolerate. Being embarrassed was not one of them. In fact, it was up there with the things that she hated. How dare those people do this? And here she was, thinking that she could fit in with them. How could they? How could people be so cruel? How could they be so mean when she, surprisingly, was nice to them? _How_?

She pushed the door open with a shove. Almost immediately, the room went silent. Everyone inside stared at her in shock. Had they not been expecting for her to overhear them? How could she not? They had been laughing at her loud enough to hear it down the hallway. "I'm an idiot, huh?" she hissed out. Minori flinched. There was no way that she was going to let these people down easily. She was pissed, and she was going to release all of this anger one way or another.

Minori waved her hands. "What?" she squeaked. "We weren't talking about you, Nami-san! Right, Eiko?"

Eiko nodded. Not that Nami believed them one bit. "You all must think I'm stupid. Oh, wait, you do. Well, I'm not, and I'll tell you this: I never forget shit like this." She turned to leave. There was no way she was staying here with these stuck up rich kids. But, first, "I'll see you guys in the pits of Gehenna. You better pray to God that you don't see me before then."

With that, she slammed the door shut. Those kids had hell coming their way, but until then, she had to go home. How did she get to the bus stop? The sky was dark. The only light was the street lights, signs, and the occasional car. Where did she go from here? She gripped her sweater closer around herself. It was getting cold, good thing she wore this. Without it, she would be screwed.

Her feet carried her through the streets of Tokyo. She couldn't believe that they turned out to be jerks. Today was supposed to be the day where her life started looking up. So far, its been pretty bad. She had gotten the chance to meet - and maybe like if she willed herself enough - Rai. That had been the highlight of her day before it all went to dirt.

Now she was stranded somewhere in Tokyo. Her phone was dead so she couldn't look up directions. How could it get any worse?

"Hey, cutie."

That's how.

A man with a red stain on his shirt had been leaning against the wall of one of the buildings. He reeked of straight alcohol. She didn't have time for this. Holding her head up high, she prepared herself to walk passed the man. He could try if he wanted to. He'd most likely act as a receiving end of the fury Minori and Eiko planted inside of her.

But, the man grabbed onto her shoulder when she got close enough. A heavy breath blew from her lips as if he had knocked the wind out of her. She hadn't been expecting him to grab her. Now the stench of vodka was even stronger. "Calm down, cutie," the man slurred. The words rolled off his tongue like he didn't even know how to speak Japanese. It was sad.

"Let me go," Nami snapped. There was not enough time in the world for this. This guy was just trying to rain on her already flooded parade.

His hand reached to pull the collar of her knitted sweater down. "Just _relax_."

"That's it, you grubby piece of -"

"Nami?!"

Her head turned to see a familiar sight a few feet away on the sidewalk. There stood the person she didn't want to see most. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt her stomach flip. It was him. He took one look at the drunken man, then back over at her, before letting out a growl. It didn't take rocket science to figure out what was happening. But, her mind was elsewhere. In her head, time was frozen. Nothing moved. No one talked. Nothing happened. He just stood there in his back skinny jeans and blue hoodie. Standing there watching her.

She wanted him to leave. She wanted to yell at him so that he would go far away from where she was.

The sound of the drunken man brought her back to reality. "You have such pretty, white hair, cutie."

This guy had to beat it. She raised her foot to kick the man in between his legs. The man let out a cry. His knees buckled, and his heavy body fell to the ground in a heap of groans. Rin ran over after that. That was exactly what she didn't want to happen. It was comforting, though. To know that she wouldn't have to be alone with the man anymore. He would help her. Or, at least, he would help her throw up on the man.

When he got close enough, she was able to catch a whiff of his body wash. He smelled like fresh cotton and trees. If that was a nice combination. It smelled nice. His hand reached out to pull her away from the man, and into him. She could feel the lean muscles underneath his thin hoodie. She didn't object. Perhaps it was more of the fact that she had actually, sort of, kinda, maybe missed him rather than being afraid. Though, she still let out a groan to let him know that the action wasn't the best thing ever for her.

His cerulean eyes trailed from the man on the ground, then to the girl he was holding against his arm. "Did you just -"

Nami cut him off with a snort. "I'm not useless. I wasn't going to sit back and let you save me like you were probably planning to do," she said. She was trying to make light about her almost being abducted. Well, attempting to be abducted.

"You're shaking," he pointed out softly. She looked down to where her hands were dangling at her sides. They were trembling. Not a lot, but enough. Was she scared? She never got scared. But, now . . . she didn't know. Rin sighed, clearly ignoring the passed out man on the ground, and mumbled, "Why have you been ignoring me?"

She stayed silent. He was choosing to ask that at a time like this? Noticing that she wasn't going to say anything else, he let out another breath. What happened next shocked her. His hand reached down to hers. Was he trying to grab her hand? She could feel herself growing lightheaded again. Had she ever made him feel lightheaded? Probably not, but Shiemi has. However, here he was, trying to grab _her_ hand. _Her_ hand. Not Shiemi's. He seemed a bit hesitant, so she took it upon herself to intertwine her cold fingers with his long, warm ones. She knew that she couldn't have him. She knew that she didn't want her crush on him to last. But, this . . . holding his hand . . . was satisfying.

"Come on. I'll take you home." He didn't want to hear her answer. He had already began to pull her in the opposite direction she was headed in. It was no wonder she couldn't find the bus stop; she was going the wrong way. She followed behind him with a newfound fluttering in the pits of her stomach. Why did he do this? He made her crush on him, only to go flocking to Shiemi. Did he like to play with people's emotions? "Why are you out here by yourself at night?"

Nami used her free hand to scratch her head. "Do you remember those girls that asked me out to karaoke with them? Turns out it was just a bunch of rich kids that wanted to make fun of me. It was mortifying. I just left," she explained. He bit the inside of his cheek. Opting to change the subject, she asked, "So why did you show up out of nowhere? Why were you in town?"

He held up the plastic bag in his free hand. "Yukio told me to go buy new notebooks since I filled my other ones with drool stains in class," he answered. And there it was. The classic Rin that didn't care about anything. The things he did care about, though, he made sure to put on a high pedestal. She had taken note of the way he acted outside of class. So rebellious, carefree, and confident. It was why she liked him. For that exact reason.

They walked in silence until Nami cleared her throat. "Actually, I'm too shaken up to go home right now. Do you mind finding something else to do?" she asked, then thought about her words. "If you want to, I mean. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. I don't need you -"

He chuckled. God, it was _that_ chuckle. The one that seemed to shake the ground underneath her feet. "Sure, I know a place." He wasn't going to leave her, she was guessing. She looked away from him. She didn't know why she had been expecting for him to. She should have known better.

He walked her through the streets of Tokyo. He knew his way around. He weaved around corners without second guessing it. The bus had been arriving to the stop when they got there. Nami flashed her school ID, and climbed on, picking a seat in the back. Rin followed after her. He had even let her take the window seat. If that wasn't kind, she didn't know what was. She wouldn't be willing to give up the window seat for anyone.

The bus arrived at the iron gates of the school twenty minutes later. It didn't take as long as earlier due to the traffic have died down. She climbed off behind him with a few other students in tow. He tangled his hand into hers again without asking. She could feel tiny traces of nausea from his touch. She couldn't even focus on where he was taking her.

The moon was high in the sky now. There were only small handfuls of students walking around. Most of them were heading to their dorms since there was school tomorrow. But, not them. They were going somewhere else. And as he pushed his golden key into the lock of a random door, she knew that it was going to be interesting. He opened the door to reveal the darkened hallways of the cram school. Stepping aside, he let her enter first, closing the door behind them with a soft _click_.

She followed behind him as he led her through the halls. The moonlight shined in from the windows, giving the place an eerie vibe. "So," he started. She felt her fingers nervously twitch against his. "Why were you avoiding me? Do you hate me?"

Hate him? Oh, how she wished that she could. "No," she answered truthfully. She didn't hate him. She just wished that she could stop liking him. She practically disliked everyone _but_ him.

He took his bottom lip in between his slightly pointy teeth to gnaw on it. "If it's because I kept you up all night, I'm sorry -"

"I'm not mad at you. Don't worry about it."

He didn't say anything else. The only sound that filled the silence was the sound of their shoes walking against the tiled floor. Eventually, Rin stopped walking. He turned to face one of the doors - a door with no number on it. She pulled her hand away from his. He pushed the door open, flicking on the light to reveal the room.

It was a storage room. Though, there wasn't school supplies inside of it. Shelves upon shelves of weapons inhabited the room. Swords and guns hung on the walls for display. This wasn't any kind of storage room; it was an arsenal room. Her jaw dropped as she took a step inside. How did he know about this place? He was only an exwire, how had he obtained information on this room's whereabouts? She looked at the pistols hanging on the walls. This room was _very nice_.

"Woah," she breathed out. All memories of today's events had slipped her mind. Right now, she was focused on the sight in front of her.

Rin leaned against the door, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Cool, huh?" He smirked. "I found this place a few months ago."

She ran her fingers over one of the guns on the wall. It was long with a scope attached to it. The pack of bullets beside it were long, thick, and heavy. Right beside it was the label _SR25_. This thing looked like it could do some damage. "These are cool," she mused. Beyond better judgement, she picked the gun off the wall. It was heavy. She held it in her tiny arms, peering through the attached scope. "I like this one."

"Rifles?" he asked. She nodded. This gun was her favourite without a doubt. Even if it made her look like a shrimp next to it. "It's big."

"I know."

"Do you want it?"

What? She lowered the gun to look over at Rin. He was staring at her; his soft, thick eyebrows were raised. What was he talking about? "Huh?" she mumbled. Was he mad? This gun belonged to the school.

He stepped closer, and repeated, "Do you want it?"

"I can't have it." She was right. This guy was mad. He was a freaking lunatic.

"No one said that." He chuckled again. What? Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "If you want it, you can have it. I'll have to lie a bit, but it's yours."

He was . . . _giving_ this to her? Did people actually do that? "Really?" Her tone was covered in disbelief.

"Mmhmm."

Her body acted on its own accord. She walked over, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. She wasn't really sure why she was hugging him. Her happiness and the need to get close to him again and made her want to be in his embrace. Not even he knew why she was hugging him. His body was stiff with uncertainty. She wasn't acting like herself. Before she had the chance to pull away, his arms snaked around her waist. He was hugging her back. She could feel her stomach doing back flips. Being pressed against his chest had made her weak in the knees. Hearing every breath he took made her mind foggy. He was like a poison . . . and she couldn't get enough of it.

She could feel him smile against her hair. "You know," he started. Was he going to tell her that she was holding onto him too long? Just a little longer. That's all she wanted. "Not a lot of people get this excited over guns."

"Thanks you for the gun."Her voice was muffled by his chest. "If you didn't give it to me, I was going to steal it, anyways. You just made it a lot easier on me."

"I don't know why I was expecting for you to say anything other than that."

What was he expecting her to say? To her surprise, he hadn't broke away from her hug at all. If this was one of his friendship hugs, Shiemi's must be incredible. He was hugging her so tightly that her ear was pressed against his hard chest. She could hear his heartbeat pounding through his clothes. Calm, collected, and confident . . . just like him.

Clearing her throat, she backed away. That was definitely too long of a hug. It was starting to be awkward. "I feel a lot better now," she stated.

He looked at her. Looked at her. He really _looked_ at her. It was like he was staring right into her to read her. His gaze was filled with so much fascination and . . . She turned her head away. There was no way. "Are you trying to say you're ready to go home," he teased.

Yes, that's exactly what she wanted to do. She could feel her stomach hurting again, and she didn't want to end up puking on his shoes. "Yes."

"Okay."

He reached over to grab three pack of bullets designed for the gun in her hands. He tossed them into one of the open cases along with her gun - which he had gently took from her when he noticed how attached she already was to it. Once it was hidden away, he tossed the case over his shoulder, right along with his sword case, and started out the door. She was sort of glad that he didn't reach for her hand again. She had enough physical contact from him for the day. Or, it was more like she had enough of comparing herself to Shiemi for the day.

Was this what it was like to be with someone? To have someone want to hold your hand? To have someone return your hugs? To be walked home at night? Was this what couples felt every hour of every day? Nami suddenly found herself growing envious of those individuals. They got the opportunity to experience this whenever they wanted to. The only reason that she got to feel it was because she had caught Rin when he was in a good mood. Otherwise, she was sure that it wouldn't have happened. She wouldn't have let it happen.

She had tried to get over it. She tried to get on with her life. But, she couldn't. She wanted to be liked just like everyone else.

When they reached the front door of the girls' dormitories, he gave her the gun case. It was just like the first night that they had spent the night talking. Though, this one felt a little different. He looked down at her, smiled a bit, and said, "Goodnight, Nami."

 _Oh, no . . ._

"'Night," she breathed before stumbling inside and closing the door behind her. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

Her back collided with the wooden door. Oh, no. Oh, no. Her back slid down the door until it landed on the wood floor. A frustrated growl blew passed her lips. She was angry. And it wouldn't be a gentle, annoyed angry. She was pissed off . . . all because he told her goodnight.

She thought that she could move on from him. She thought that if she distanced them, her feelings would go away like a dark memory. That wasn't the case. Her feelings for that pointy-eared boy weren't going anywhere. She had even tried to distract herself, but it wouldn't work. All that she could think about was Rin. Rin, Rin, Rin. That was all that she wanted, even though she told herself that she didn't. Her hands moved to throw her gun case across the room. It slammed into the wall with a loud _crash_.

She liked him bad, and her crush had only doubled in size. He was the only thought running through her mind. She let out a cry.

Grabbing onto a vase, she sent it smashing into a nearby wall. Why did he have to do this to her? Why did he have to do that? Earlier, after they hugged, she had saw it. All that Nami ever wanted was for someone to look her in the eye, and make her feel special. To get her to let her guard down. To look at her the way every girl wanted to be looked at.

Tonight . . . Rin had given her that look.

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 **Hi! Sorry I made you guys wait so long for this chapter! But, it's out, and the next one will be out soon. Thanks for reading!**

 **~ Insane**


	8. Practice

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

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 **Thank you to _DearlyFictitious_ , _digibladelover1_ , _Spanish Napolean_ , _SkyLion27_ , _tavitaalvarez33_ , and _yukki-kouhai_ for favouriting and/or following! Also, a huge thank you to _KnightOwl247_ and _DearlyFictitious_ for leaving a review!**

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 **CHAPTER SEVEN**

 **PRACTICE**

 **"The way anything is developed is through practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice and more practice."  
\- Joyce Meyer**

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 **TO HIRASAWA NAMI,** it seemed almost habitual for her to be late for class. Almost every day, she woke up late to the sound of her cousin getting dressed across the room from her. Almost every day, she woke up knowing she would have to rush her shower in order to be on time. Even now, as she stumbled into the classroom, all eyes on her as if she were some intruder, she felt that this was a normal occurrence. Her sleeping habits were getting out of hand. At least, that's what the teacher kept telling her while she shuffled to the back of the classroom toward her seat.

The teacher put down her stick of chalk. It was the universal sign of trouble. Whenever that happened, one of the students were going to get yelled at. In this case, it was the white-haired girl attempting to blend in with the students. She was toast. She was going to be stuck with detention again for the second time since she arrived at this school. Already, she had managed to get herself onto the short list of students who were a repetitive visitor to after school detention. How long has she been here? About two weeks?

The teacher pointed a sickly thin finger at the girl. "Whoa, there! Hirasawa-san, I see you trying to sneak to the back!" she called out. Nami froze in her spot, the blood pulsing through her veins going dry. She had been caught trying to creep into the classroom. The girl let out a sigh, and turned her body to face the teacher. The woman, though still upset, appeared used to her antics by now. "Let me guess. You were sleeping in late? I suggest you invest in a better alarm clock. Detention after class, now get to your seat."

Great. She was stuck having to clean up the classroom at the end of the day again. What made it worse was that once the students found out that someone was going to clean up after them, they made it a religion to mess the classroom up. That usually left two times the mess at the end of the day, and a fuming teenager. She plopped down in her seat with a heavy sigh. So much for trying to go unnoticed.

Just like every other day, Rin was seated to the left of her, his chin resting in the palm of his hand, and his half-lidded eyes staring right through the teacher. Also, almost like every other day, he was the reason that she was late for class. After he gave her the gift of her exorcist weapon, saved her from being lost in the middle of Tokyo, and held her hand, her head had been running wild with thoughts. Most of them were about how she should have stuck to her plan of staying away from the boy. Others were about how good it felt to be wrapped in his arms. She had stayed up most of last night rethinking their situation—her situation. Despite how many times she tried, her crush on the black-haired idiot wasn't going anywhere.

And believe her, she tried. She had even gone through the possibility that she could fancy someone else. Even people like Miwa and Ryuji came up on that list. Each time, the only one her mind told her about was Pointy-Ears. It was becoming meaningless to attempt to change something that she had no control over in the first place. She was just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. She was going to have to come to terms with this crush. She liked Okumura and there was nothing that she could do about it.

And that's fine. Nothing was going to happen between them, as long as she kept a level head on her shoulders. Something that was proving easier to do with each passing day.

He let out a yawn once the teacher began scratching at the chalkboard again. His lips were slightly chapped; his eyes couldn't seem to find the energy to open all of the way. The attempts of combing his hair the other day had not crossed into today, either. The inky strands were styled in that messy bedhead way that Nami was growing accustomed to. She had never took him to be the type to stay up all night, but his appearance now was saying otherwise. He looked almost as bad as she did. _That_ was saying a lot.

She almost jumped when his head craned to look at her. The corners of his mouth twitched up into a ghost of a smile. Strangely, she found herself staring at his fingernails out of all places. They were longer than her short ones by a near half inch, the tips narrowing together to create a point. He had claws. Was that another body modification thing that he liked doing? "Mornin'." His voice was gritty and dipped in the after effects of sleep.

Nami broke eye contact to look forward. Just because she liked him didn't mean that she had to act like it. She could keep it a secret hidden within herself. "Morning," she mumbled back.

She retrieved her pencil and notebook out of her school bag so that she could copy what was left of the lesson. Hopefully he wouldn't try to strike up a conversation. It was bad enough that she was forced to clean up after the students later today. She didn't need to get sent down to Mephisto's office for disrupting the peace. Her mother would probably have a heart attack. Her daughter: the new and improved troublemaker.

They were doing math first. It was a subject that she never really took the time to pay attention to. Just the thought of all of those number and symbols were making her head spin. It was a good distraction, though. She could still feel a blue gaze watching her through her scribbling. If she focused on writing down notes, maybe he would get the hint that she wasn't in the mood to talk to him like usual. He eventually picked up on that, his gaze no longer burning into the side of her head. A breath that she didn't know she was holding in blew past her lips. Thank God.

Nami was so caught up in copying down notes that she didn't say anything to the two girls sitting behind her and Rin. The first one, that particular brown-haired teenager, continued to sneak glances her way. She must have thought that Nami couldn't feel them. One of the rules of being an exorcist, Yukio had often told the girl, was to make sure that you were aware of the things around you. She was well aware of the brown-haired girl's staring, and it was beginning to grow irritating.

After twenty minutes of staring—and hoping that she would find something better to do than to watch her—Nami turned around to shoot the girl a glare. Minori's eyes went wide; she hadn't been expecting it. Nami's black eyebrow's pulled low on her face, her green eyes narrowing into slits at the girl. After all that they've done, they choose to pull a stunt like this one? Were they trying to make fun of her more? Did they think that she needed to be humiliated in front of everyone in the classroom? Had they disregarded her warning to them yesterday? Her fists were clenched so tight that the pencil in her hand snapped in half. She had been oblivious to the snapping writing utensil, but the boy next to her hadn't.

Rin's head whipped around so fast Nami was sure that he was going to get whiplash. He didn't. Instead, his previously dull eyes zeroed in on Minori and Eiko. The drowsiness the once consumed the boy was now gone. The only thing left was fire—a certain fire that Nami couldn't describe. However, it was menacing. It was heated, yet cold at the same time, sending a shiver down the girl's spine. She had only seen this look on Rin's face twice and even then it had been an imitation. This was the real thing. This wasn't a friendly warning. This was a full blown glare . . . and boy, was it disturbing.

"Why are you two sitting here?" he hissed out at the two girls. Nami watched in silence as the two leaned back in their seats. They had looked at her with so much distaste. Now, they just looked unsettled, and it was all because of Rin. She felt her face heat up as she returned back to her notes. He hadn't been lying when he told her that people were scared of him. "Common sense would have told you to sit somewhere else. You're bothering her. Leave."

Minori scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about—"

"You know what I'm talking about," Rin cut her off. Minori's mouth shut with an audible _pop_. Eiko sunk further into her seat, mumbling something about her wishing Tadashi was here. "I know what you two did yesterday. She told me." Minori opened her mouth again, but he cut her off, and barked, "Move your damn seat already!"

Minori and Eiko instantly stood onto their feet. The class grew quiet, his lingering words hanging in the air. Eyes were on them. The teacher put down her chalk, and turned to stare at the kids sitting in the back rows, adjusting her glasses so that she could stare at Rin. He just raised his eyebrows, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back in his seat. Nami found herself gawking at him. He had just told those girls off for her. They had done nothing to him, but the fact that they had bothered her was enough for him to nearly give them a heart attack. And, judging by how pale the two girls had grew, he had succeeded.

The teacher pointed a finger at Rin this time. "Okumura-san, why did you find it necessary to yell at those two?" she asked. Rin blinked at her twice, not answering her question. The teacher sighed, "Yamada-san, Ueda-san, please trade seats with someone. Okumura-san, go down to the main office. I will not tolerate classroom interruptions."

Minori and Eiko groaned. The two girls started gathering up their belongings, Rin lazily doing the same. Nami watched as he slid his notebooks into his black school bag. He made no objection to the teacher's commands. He knew that he could have went about the situation in a better way. She knew that he was the type of person to go along with the first thought in his head. That first thought was probably to yell at them. Once his things were in his bag, he threw a smirk her way, and headed for the door. He had her back. She could feel her face heating up even more. Damn it, did this kid ever stop?

He made sure to close the door softly behind him so that he wouldn't disrupt the class even more than he already had. Nonetheless, she felt grateful. Grateful that someone would stand up for her so that she wouldn't have to. For her entire life, no one but her parents have done that for her. She thought it was a difficult task for people to do. That, or that no one cared for her enough to do it. But, here Pointy-Ears was, telling off anyone who rubbed her the wrong way. That, right there, was what she wanted: a friend. Though, in this situation, it looked like she would rather have a friend first, and a crush later.

She'd have to tell him thank you. After sitting in class without him for three hours, she came to that conclusion. If he was going to sit there and defend her, she had to make sure that it was not in vain. He deserved to get told that she appreciated his efforts even if it didn't look like it. Even if she wanted to say as little to him as possible. It had been that way ever since they met. She ignored him only to feel the need to do the right thing on the inside. And that's what she felt. Like telling him thank you was the right thing to do.

When the lunch bell rang, she shoved her things into her bag, jogged out of the door, and began her search for the black-haired exwire. Bodies of students flooded the hallways. Everyone was rushing to the cafeteria to grab a seat with their friends. Not only could she not find the boy, but she couldn't find anyone she knew. There was still one thing to try. She stopped a blond haired boy in the hallway and asked him for the directions to Faust's office. Upstairs to the right, he said. Great. If she couldn't find him, she was just going to have to go get him.

She continued her search for him upstairs. Just as the blond had directed, there was a door with Mephisto's fake name sprawled across it. She made her way over to the door with full intent of barging in. What could they be doing that was private? However, just as her hand was about to grab the knob, the door flew open by itself. Staring down at her was a confused Rin. She blinked at him, and he blinked at her. Why did she choose now of all times to get speechless?

Their staring competition was broken by Mephisto's flamboyant voice. He stood up from behind his desk, waving a hand at the small girl. "Oh, Hirasawa-san Jr.! It's been a minute since I seen you around here!" He walked over to where the two were standing in the doorway. Rin let out a sigh. "How's your sister-cousin-thing doing? Did you come all the way up here for Okumura-san?"

She surprised even herself by what came out of her mouth. "Yeah."

Rin's eyebrows raised in shock. She don't know why she said that. It wasn't like her to give away valuable information like that to someone that she didn't know. She had only met Mephisto once. It didn't tack him down as a reliable contact. At least, not as far as she was concerned. He watched her with his panda-like eyes for what seemed like hours until he grinned.

"Well, I'll let you two get on your way to lunch. Have fun!"

Rin didn't say anything to the purple-haired man. He buried his clawed hands deep in his pockets, starting down the hallway with Nami following behind. She took it that he was still a little upset from what happened in the classroom this morning. "So," he started. He slowed his pace down a bit so that she could catch up with him. Her legs weren't as long as his, and he was just starting to realize that. "You came up here to get me. What's up?"

"I wanted to say thank you for sticking up for me earlier." Nami looked at her boots. This sounded a lot more . . . emotional out loud. There had to be a way to cover it up. "You know . . . or whatever. I don't really care . . ."

Most people would have felt somewhat offended if she said that. That fact that Rin seemed used to her way of speaking, giving her a small smile, was what made him different. It was like he could see the underlying meanings in her words. It was a troublesome thing, but right now, she was thankful for that. "No problem," he said. "I brought you lunch. Want to ditch the cafeteria with me today?"

Ditch? As in, just the two of them?

Nami's eyebrows knitted together went she felt the familiar stinging sensation in her cheeks. She felt so stupid. Could she not go an hour without tripping over every little thing he told her? He probably meant that he wanted to get away from the crowd for a while. She was thinking too much into it, thinking that he wanted to eat with her alone. It was the crush's doing. Any mentally sane person would have thought that. Not her. She was clinging onto hopes that her wishes could come true—that he would actually want to hug her and hold her hand—like a fool.

They were just friends. That was all that they were ever going to be. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" she agreed. It would be a good idea to ditch the cafeteria to avoid any unwanted confrontations.

He nodded. With her answer, he led her through the many twists and turns of the building. He had been going to this school for way longer than her. He knew his way around better. She trusted him to not get them lost enough to not ask any questions on the way. It was a rare occurrence. She was the type of girl who wanted a handle on the situation . . . Not this time. He led her down to the first floor, and out of the exit. There were one or two students there walking to the cafeteria. They were the only ones ditching. That made it only that much easier for them to get caught.

Rin pushed the door open without a care. It probably wasn't the first time he ditched lunch to be by himself. It was apparent in the way he shut the door behind her, glanced left and right, then started walking again. She kept her head down in case they were spotted. It wouldn't do much good, though. Her hair was down today; there weren't many other students here who had white hair. She stuck out like a sore thumb. If they were to get caught, she would be the one going down first.

It was when she heard the melody of rushing water did she know where he was taking her. The image of one of the school's expensive fountains came into view. They were going to have lunch at the fountain. He checked to make sure that no one was around before he plopped down onto the marble ledge. She did the same, making sure to put some space between him and her. He didn't seem to notice. His hands dug into his bag to retrieve the bentos hidden inside of it.

He passed her the pink one with a yawn. "Finally—some peace and quiet. Mephisto doesn't shut up. I hate going to his office. His punishment is always me sitting there while he tells me how his week went. Terrible."

She accepted the bento. Taking it apart, she seen the mountain of sushi inside. Ukobach was extra kind today. Her mouth was already beginning to water. In one quick movement, she took out her chopsticks, and started eating. That demon sure did know how to work his way into a girl's heart. In Nami's case, it was food. His skill in cooking had reserved the demon a wedge in her heart.

"You sure do love eating." Rin chuckled while she stuffed her third sushi roll into her mouth. Why was she eating like that in front of him? What was he going to think about her? Why couldn't she care less? The food was good. That's all she cared about at that moment. "Cow."

She swallowed the food in her mouth, and shot him a look. "Is that going to become some kind of inside joke or something?"

"Yeah." He ate some of his rice. "Probably."

Perhaps it was because it was so quiet out here. She found her attention wandering over to him. His eyes were locked on the blue bento in his hands. His claws made it slightly hard for him to use his chopsticks, she noticed, for his fingers held the sticks awkwardly in their grip. It didn't stop him from eating. He was a master at awkward chopstick eating. She smiled at the sight. That was, until he looked up. Her gaze shot down to the water in the fountain so that he wouldn't catch her staring. That would have been mortifying.

He popped more food into his mouth. "So, is there anything else about you that you haven't told me yet?"

"I'm allergic to rabbits." It wasn't the most important piece of information, but it kept the conversation going. Rin stopped mid-chew to stare at her with wide blue eyes. "What?"

"You're allergic to _rabbits_?"

"Mmhmm."

"As in the cute little things that do nothing but sit in a cage and eat lettuce?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. She already thought that her allergy was bad. He wasn't making it any better. "I know, it's pretty stupid." She sighed. "I break out in hives and pieces of my hair start falling out." His eyes wandered up to her hair. At the sheer thought of it, he let out a laugh. She glared at him. He was never going to let her hear the end of this. "Your turn," she tried.

"Hmm . . ." He ate the rest of his rice while he thought of something to say. She watched the way his jawline grew even sharper with every chew he made. It was like watching a chain reaction. With the more food he put into his mouth, the more full his cheeks became, and the tighter his jaw grew. "My favourite colours are gray and green."

He liked the colour green. If she could recall correctly, her eyes were green. Her face filled up with hope, but was instantly shut down by reality. It was a coincidence. He was just stating facts. She needed to stop getting so wrapped up in him that she turned delusional.

She ate two more sushi rolls. "My favourite colour is blue."

He stopped eating to stare at her. Did she say something wrong? She felt her blood running cold. Was there something wrong? She was telling him the truth. Did he think that she was lying?

"I have a cat."

It took her a second to unravel what he said. He said it so fast that it sounded like one run-on word. When it finally clicked, she tilted her head to the side. "A cat?" she repeated in disbelief. He nodded. "You have a cat? On campus? I love cats. How'd you get them to let you keep it?"

He chuckled at all of her questions. "I don't know. I never really got permission to keep him. I've just . . . kind of had him for a while."

"It's a boy?" She couldn't help the large smile growing on her face. "Can I meet him?"

He was speechless this time. Rin stared at her with furrowed eyebrows. They were pulled so low that his shiny eyes almost seemed to shut. He appeared to be deep in thought. Then, the corners of his lips curved up into a smile. "Whatever you want," he agreed. "Meet me after cram school. I'll take you to him."

* * *

 **IT FELT A** bit strange for her to be back at this place. The last time she was here, she had faced so much inner turmoil and confusion. It was also the first time she had thoroughly enjoyed herself at this school. It gave her a reason to remain on track. That, and the fact that he was walking with her . . . something that she would never admit as long as she lived.

He didn't knock. His large, calloused hands gripped onto the handle of the door like he owned the place. Which, he technically did when she thought about it. But still, his demeanor was calm and collected. He pulled the door open with so much force that the door should have been broken. Mumbling that it often gets stuck, the boy stepped aside so that she could enter. Ever the gentleman, she supposed. Her boots scuffed against the wood flooring as she walked inside. The dorm building was still the same old flare it had been the last time she was here. The same cobwebs were in the corners where the walls intersected. It was still completely quiet save for the creaking of the floorboards. She didn't know why she had expected the building to look different after only a few days.

Rin closed the door behind them. His hands reached up, pulling the halfway done, black and red tie from around his neck. It was probably a habit of his. He had done it last time as well. When he got home, the first thing he did was take his tie off. She wondered why he bothered wearing it in the first place. He avoided all the other rules, why not this one?

He took a step forward once the garment was off. The way that he carried himself seemed to relax a bit more now that he was in the safety of his somewhat home. His gaze traveled over to where the stairs sat at the end of the hallway. "Kuro!" he shouted. Who was a Kuro? Was that the name of the cat that he told her about. As if answering her thoughts, a black ball of fluff raced down the steps. She felt her breath hitch; that was his cat? It was running at full speed, but she could just about make out patches of white, and big green eyes. "Oi, are you hungry?"

The cat rushed to Rin's feet. It sat there with its held held high. Fluffs of white fur surrounded its back along with a patch on one of its legs. The bottom of its face was covered in grayish-brown strands. Its back was straight; its tails wiggling happily behind it now that its master was home. That's when she seen it. The cat didn't have one tail—it had two. Two thin black tails moved behind the animal with all of the grace in the world. It wasn't the only abnormality. Two horns were growing out of the top of its head. This wasn't a normal cat . . . but it was a cat nonetheless.

Rin glanced at her. He expected her to say something about how cats usually didn't have two tails and horns. It was the reason why he couldn't show Kuro to certain people. Yet, here he was, showing this page about his cat. His familiar. He saw the was her body stiffed when she noticed the demonic features. It could be any second now that she would back away. Though, he didn't really know why he kept expecting _anything_ out of her, especially since she knelt down to pet it. Did she not have a problem with it?

"He's so cute." She beamed at the creature. He couldn't help but feel shocked at the sight of her running her fingers over the spot behind the feline's ear. Was she not phased by demon's anymore? Suddenly, her big green eyes glanced up at him. "He's a demon, too, right?"

He found himself scratching his chin. "Is it obvious?"

She let out an airy chuckle. "You like keeping demon's around here, don't you?" she asked him. Rin felt his blood run cold. She didn't know the half of it. "Hey there, Kuro. I'm Nami. You doing all right?"

" _I'm fine,"_ the feline meowed. To her, it sounded like a normal mewl. To Rin, he was answering her question. The cat's eyes looked up at the boy with curiosity. _"Do you know this Nami girl? Should I bite her?"_

Rin shook his head. "She's my friend. She's nice. She likes cats, so she wanted to meet you."

" _Me?!"_ The cat's head perked up. He was still as much as an attention seeker as ever. As long as one showed the cat any type of recognition, he would be friendly. In this case, it was Nami. He nuzzled his head against her open palm with a smile. _"Does she want to play with me?"_

It didn't take long for them to warm up to each other. Rin let out a sigh, glancing down at the crouching girl. He knew she would turn the offer down. She didn't look like the type to chase after cats all day. "He asked if you want to play with him," he told her. Then, when she looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he realized what he just said. He had slipped up. He told her that he could speak to the demon.

She stood up to her full length, which wasn't much. "Sure," she said. She wanted to play with Kuro. He bit the inside of his cheek; this girl really was unpredictable. "You understood him? How?"

"Uh . . . I don't know. It's probably because he's my familiar. You know, a whole link thing," he lied.

"Familiar?"

This wasn't good. She was starting to ask too many questions, and Rin wasn't the best at thinking of lies on the spot. He adjusted the red case hanging on his shoulders with a shrug. "It's a long story. You're still a page; I'm pretty sure Yukio will explain it to you eventually. Are you two hungry? I'll go make something to eat." The words rushed out of his mouth as he changed the subject. All he did was leave a mess for his little brother to clean up. But, he would probably handle the situation better than him. Slipping his shoes off so that he was just in his socks, he walked through the halls and into the dorm building's kitchen. "If you're going to run around, take your shoes off!"

Nami stared at the boy as he left. Even the cat was in surprise. Why had he rushed away so fast? All she did was ask him a question. Was he starting to think that she was acting clingy—more like a fangirl rather than a friend? She had it her mission to stay out of his business from now on. If little details like that upset him, she'd rather not know anything than to have him run away.

She sat down cross-legged on the wooden floor. Reaching her hand over, she began working the knots out of her shoelaces. It was normal manners to take your shoes off before running around someone's house. This was the closest thing to a house that the twins had. She had to be respectful of that. She slipped the beat up boots off of her feet, leaving her in black, thigh-high socks. Kuro meowed when she stood up. She had to do something to get her mind off the way he blew her off. Kuro was going to be her distraction.

However, she couldn't hold it against the boy. She would have done the same thing. If it had been the other way around, he would have just shrugged and smiled. Now that she was on the receiving end, she felt . . . bad. There was only one explanation for that: it was because she liked him, and he didn't like her.

"What do you want to do?" she asked the small animal. It meowed before running up the stairs. It wanted her to follow it. The second floor. She suddenly felt like she was invading the twins' space. "I don't know if I can go up there . . ."

The cat purred as if to say that it was fine. She took his word for it. This was his home, too. If he allowed her to go up there, then she was somewhat granted permission.

She jogged up the stairs to catch up with the cat. It sprinted down the hallway. Suddenly, she found herself playing tag with the feline. It led her down the many halls of the dorm's second floor. Some of the room doors were open. Every time they passed an open one, she would glance inside. And every time, there would be nothing but a deserted room inside. She didn't know why she figured that every room would be decorated to match the twins' liking. Of course they were empty. It was just the two of them in this four-story building.

The layout was much like her own dormitory. The flooring was a chestnut brown wood. The walls were once white. The second floor was totally deserted. It held more cobwebs than the first floor. She had even seen a few spiders scattered around. A shiver ran down her spine. This building needed a good cleaning.

Kuro led her up to the third floor next. She was starting to think that she wouldn't be able to catch the cat. After an entire day of school, and cram school—which was taught by Kirigakure-sensei again, sadly—she had a lot less energy than the feline. That, and the fact that they both were small. With every stride of her legs, he took three. It wasn't fair in the slightest.

He sped past another open door. This wasn't like the other ones. There were blankets, clothes, papers, and other personal items inside. It didn't take long to figure out that it was the boys' room. Rin's black skinny jeans on the middle of the floor were a dead give away. She stopped to take a peek through the inch or so that the door exposed. She was being nosy, that she knew, but she couldn't help the curiosity. What would a dorm room that belonged to Yukio and Rin look like? Half of the room was messy. The other half was cleaned. She should have known. But, her attention landed on something sitting next to their door. It was a cat toy. A small smirk crept onto her face . . . she now had leverage against the cat.

She picked the red, toy mouse up, causing the bell inside to jingle around. Kuro froze when he heard it. His head snapped around to stare at her. Nami felt her skin pale. The cat looked like something straight out of a horror film. His friendly attitude was long gone, replaced by a look of pure malice. She took a step back and the feline took two steps forward. Great. He was crazy about his toy. She had to get out of here before he went AWOL. Taking the first thought to cross her mind, she ran down the stairs. The cat let out a screech before chasing after her.

This was a lot scarier than she thought. Never in her life did she think she was going to be hunted down by a demon. All of the ones that she met were delightful and made the best sushi. Kuro seemed to have a personality complex. It was apparent in the way he ran down every hall just to get to her. Was this all because of the cat toy? She sped back down to the first floor. What was wrong with this thing?

Her mind told her to find Rin. Maybe he would know what was wrong with his cat. Her sock-clad feet pounded against the groaning wood floor to get to the kitchen. Once she was inside of the eating area, she felt relief wash over her. She could see Rin working around the kitchen through the hole in the wall. He looked up when he heard the pounding of their feet. If she could stay away from the feline long enough for its owner to snatch it up, she would be safe.

"What's going on?" Rin walked out of the kitchen. His eyebrows pulled low, watching the girl run away from the cat. Thankfully, he bent down to scoop the animal up before it had the chance to tackle her. "Wait!"

That didn't stop Kuro. He squirmed to get out of the boy's arms. Nami took a few steps back, and dropped the cat toy. That was all she had to do. The cat leaped out of Rin's arm, rushing over to the toy. The scary look on his face morphed into a dazed one. It almost killed her because it had her toy? Now, she wasn't too sure if she liked cats anymore.

Rin glanced at the cat on the ground, then at Nami, and then let out a laugh. "You had his toy? That's why he was going crazy?" he asked. Nami placed a hand over her chest. That was the most nerve wreaking thing she's ever gone through. He laughed one more time and walked back into the kitchen. It was then did she notice the purple apron around his waist. He was serious about cooking? He knew how to cook? "That thing's filled with cat nip. Even if _I_ had it, he would have ripped me to shreds, too. You should be glad that you're fast."

She glanced down at the cat. He was rolling around while playing happily with the toy. Hmm, that explains it. She thought that it suddenly hated her guts.

The kitchen door flew open seconds later. Rin and Ukobach walked out carrying plates of food. Her stomach grumbled at the sight. The two placed it on one of the tables in the dining area. Was she always this hungry? As soon as his plates were down, Ukobach motioned for Nami to come over. She took a seat, and the demon kissed her hand like he did last time.

Rin shoved the demon out of the way to make room for his food. It squeaked in protest. "No one asked you," the boy grumbled at it. Ukobach squeaked, and Rin's eyes narrowed. "No one told you to cook, dude! I said I was going to do it! It's your fault we have too much food!" There was another round of squeaking. "Just ask her! Nami, whose food do you want to eat? Mine or Ukobach's?"

The two of them looked over at her with puppy faces. Ukobach's eyes drooped the slightest bit. Rin's full bottom lip pouted out. It wasn't making her decision any easier. "Why do I have to choose?" she mumbled. Her hands gripped both of the plates to pull them closer to her. "I can eat both."

Rin shrugged. "Ukobach says to eat mine first," he said. The demon fumed. She was guessing that he didn't say that.

She gripped the chopsticks in her hand. Rin's plate was going first like he wanted. The boy watched anxiously as she took the first bite. What the hell? She had expected for his cooking to be careless like him. This was anything but careless. His cooking was actually . . . amazing. She felt those familiar flutters surface in her abdomen. Rin could cook. That wasn't helping her keep her crush on him to a minimum. She swallowed the food in her mouth with a loud gulp. "God . . ." she whispered. The two leaned in closer to hear her better. "It's good. Really, really, really good."

Rin grinned wide, giving her a clear view of the sharpened canines in his mouth. His claws scratched at his head sheepishly. "Good."

Ukobach's plate was next. A few bites of each plate later, and she found herself groaning. "Guys, I _did_ eat lunch today. All of this food is making me sick . . ."

Ukobach squeaked at Rin. The boy responded with a glare. "When did you tell me that? No one asked for your opinion—"

They were cut off by the sound of the dorm's front doors opening. We grew quiet as footsteps echoed throughout the building. Who was that? Rin exchanged glances with her. He didn't know who it was either. He took a step closer to her, slowly sliding the red case off of his shoulders. Whoever it was, he wasn't expecting them to be here. The thought made her stomach hurt more than her overeating did. That was, until she seen the familiar chocolate brown hair. They let out a sigh. It was just Yukio.

He walked into the dining area with a confused look in his blue eyes. He was not in his school uniform, but his exorcist uniform. He must have just finished up a mission. "Hey, Nami, Onii-san. Did you two finish your homework?" he asked, not surprised by the fact that she was here.

"You come home and start interrogating us about homework. We're older than you; piss off. We're fine." Rin waved his twin off.

Yukio sighed as Nami pushed the two plates further away from her. "I'm guessing that's a no," he said. "I was told that you were sent to Mephisto's office today. What's that about?"

Rin opened his mouth, but Nami cut him off. "It was my fault." Both brothers' eyes snapped over to her in shock. Specifically Rin, who had mumbled her name, attempting to stop her while she was ahead. She ignored them. The chair scuffed against the floor as she stood up. "These girls were bothering me and Rin told them off. It's my fault. I should have said something myself. I'm sorry."

"Jeez, you say it like he's my dad," Rin murmured.

Yukio rubbed the back of his neck. "It's okay. I'm not upset. I was just wondering."

"Then you won't mind me asking you a favour?" she asked. The younger sibling's eyebrows raised. He was telling her to continue. That was a good sign. "Do you remember me saying that I wanted to be a dragoon? With the Exwire Authorization Test coming up, I was wondering if you could teach me how to work a gun."

Rin's slightly tanned skin went pale. Yukio, on the other hand, smiled at her. It was a nice smile. Like one a friend would give to another friend. Did Yukio consider her a friend? "Sure," he agreed. Nami let out a sigh of relief. "Do you have a gun?"

"Yes, but it's not here right now." She was oblivious to Rin motioning for her to shut up behind his brother. Yukio tilted his head; he didn't understand what she was talking about. "I do know that it's an SR-Twenty-Five."

Yukio's eyebrows furrowed, and Rin groaned. "SR-Twenty-Five?" he repeated. He appeared to be in his own thoughts. Had she done something wrong? The younger boy's blue glare trailed over to his older brother, who was facing the other direction, whistling innocently. "You stole a gun for her? A ten pound _rifle_?! Do you know how dangerous those things are? _I_ didn't even want one of those!"

Rin turned around to return the glare. "She wanted it! What was I supposed to do?"

"Tell her no! It's one word, two letters. It's not that hard."

Rin chewed on his bottom lip. "Have you seen that face she gives people?" he mumbled. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear that, but she did. He thought that she gave people a _look_? What look? Yukio glanced her way, and then sighed. Did he see something that she couldn't? "See what I mean?"

Nami suddenly felt bad. "If you want me to give it back, I can—"

"No, it's fine," both twins said in unison. They shared a look before Yukio continued, "You can use one of my guns for now. Here."

He reached his hands into the holsters around his waist. She watched as he pulled out two steel gray pistols. One, in particular, he spun around in his hand until the handle was in her direction. He reached his hand out to offer it to her. She hesitantly took it from him. It was lighter than her gun, that was for sure. The handle was steel with a wooden grip. When she took it, the corners of his lips fitted up into a smile.

"Have you ever used a gun before?" he asked softly. She shook her head. Never in her life had she fired one. This and yesterday were her first even holding one. "It's not hard. All you have to do is put your finger on the trigger, make sure your aim is correct, hold the gun straight, and shoot."

Rin took a seat in the chair that Nami was previously sat in. She paid him no mind when he began eating the rest of her food, Ukobach squeaking angrily at him. "Okay, so, how do I do those?" she asked. "I mean, as far in the shooting part."

Yukio didn't respond. He retreated into the kitchen. Before she could ask what he was doing, he came back with empty cans in his hand. He marched over to the table farthest away from her, and began setting up the cans there. He was setting up a target practice for her . . . Inside the dormitory. The boy walked back over to her, and handed her something out of her holster. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was. He was giving her ammo.

"Even though the gun isn't loaded right now, treat it like it is. Make sure its pointed away from you at all times. Keep your finger off until the trigger until you're prepared to shoot," he warned. She was doing all of those wrong. Her index finger shied away from the trigger. She pointed it at the wall ahead of them, the gun no longer aiming at her foot. Yukio slipped the pack of ammo into the bottom of the gun. Once it was secure, he told her to turn off the safety lock and pull back the barrel. She did as she was instructed. "There. Now the gun's loaded."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Rin waved his hands around. "Put the safety lock back on! What if she shoots me?"

Nami looked over at the black-haired boy. "Relax, I won't shoot you," she reassured. Her right hand waved the gun in his direction. The boy was on the ground in a heartbeat. She threw her head back and laughed. He was scared out of his mind. "My finger isn't even on the trigger."

"What the hell! This isn't funny!" he cried. Yukio threatened to take the gun from her if she didn't stop. That was all she needed to hear. She went back to holding it as if it was a ticking time bomb. Rin reluctantly sat back in the chair with a mouth filled with dango. "Damn it, Nami . . ."

"My bad," she mused. He sighed.

Yukio took the next five minutes explaining how she was supposed to hold the gun and stand. The fifteen minutes after that were spent teaching how to aim. The aiming was the worst part. He told her that she had to extend her arm to keep the gun away from her. With her arms holding out, it was hard to keep them straight. Upper arm strength, he told her, she needed more upper arm strength. Her arms were the legitimate definition of twigs, unlike Yukio's which was nothing but lean muscle. That meant that she was going to have to cut her sleeping time down to do push ups. No way.

"Press the trigger," Yukio said once she had her sights lined up with one of the cans. With a bang, a bullet was sent flying into the wall. Rin nearly jumped out of his seat. "A little more to the left."

"Sorry," she apologized for putting a hole in their wall.

Four more times. It took her four more times to hit the can. It fell to the floor with a crackle of aluminum. The room was silent until there was a soft, slow round of applause behind him. She turned around to see Rin clapping. He had finished off both plates of food, and was now sitting in the chair with his legs open in that way all boys seemed to. He was cheering her on. He was always cheering her on.

Yukio motioned to the next can. "Again."

It only took two tries for her to hit the can this time. Seeing that as a good sign, the younger brother instructed for her to take down the last two cans. When they were down, the three were left with eleven bullet holes in the walls. By this time, Kuro had retreated upstairs in fear of getting shot, and Ukobach returned to the kitchen for the same reason. But, she did it. She had fired a gun thanks to Yukio.

Yukio patted her on the back. "Not bad, Nami."

"Yeah, you didn't put a hole in between my eyes."

She shot Rin a look. He didn't shut up like she expected him to. Instead, he started laughing. She felt her cheeks heat up. What the hell was his problem? She handed the pistol back to Yukio. "I should go home," she said. She didn't want to stick around if Rin was going to make her blush all the time. It made it hard to keep things to herself. Yukio accepted the firearms with a nod. "I have homework to do. Thank you so much for teaching me. I'll see you tomorrow—goodnight, Yukio."

She walked to the front door to pull on her shoes. Rin felt his eyebrows furrow. She didn't tell him goodnight. Did he offended her by laughing?

"Goodnight, Nami!" he called after her. She was already out of the door. Jeez, that girl was an emotional roller coaster. Whenever he thought that she was in a good mood, she'd flip the switch on him. It was starting to get irritating. He sunk back against the chair and rolled his eyes. "She's an asshole sometimes."

Yukio chuckled. "I don't think she likes you back, Onii-san."

"Shut up, four eyes."

* * *

 **Hi! I'm so sorry for not updating for an entire month! My laptop's screen broke and I had to scrape up some money to get it fixed. I was going crazy from not updating in so long. So, to make it up to you, I wrote this extra long chapter. Though, it's many a filler full of character development, I hope that little part at the end got you excited for the next chapter :)**

 **It's good to be back!**

 **~ Insane**


	9. Steady Arms

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist. It belongs to its rightful owners.**

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 **Thank you to _BananaKing88_ , _BeckaBeMaia_ , _BlueFireRinOkumura_ , _Milo21_ , _theThiRteeNthking, Austin0425_ , _BrickSheep_ , and _hookcaptin_ for favouriting and/or following. Also, a huge thank you to _KnightOwl247_ , _DearlyFictitious_ , and the two _Guests_ for reviewing!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER EIGHT**

 **STEADY ARMS**

 **"Liking somebody you really don't want to like, but you can't help it . . ."**

– **Unknown**

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 **SHE WOULDN'T EXACTLY** consider herself an expert in anything, but she could say that she had a lot of knowledge . . . in almost everything that was Okumura Rin. She could have wrote a book about him if need be. Born the eldest of a set of twins on December twenty-seventh to Fujimoto Shiro, he was sixteen-years-old, five foot nine, loved cooking, and was about as school-oriented as a flock of pigeons. The teenager willingly told her all of this information at least once. If she wanted to know something about him, all she had to do was ask about it. He never hesitated. Never felt uncomfortable with her questions. He had his own personal answer, his own personal opinion, his own personal experience—own personal story for everything.

Nami, on the other hand, felt reluctance with every piece of information she gave out. She wasn't too sure if she should be exposing little details about herself to a boy that she desperately wanted to stray away from. It was Tuesday—days after she had thrown up in the physical education room because of him. Was he going to cause her demise if he stayed around her like this? Did he like tormenting her? Was there a chance that he _knew_ he was doing this? Did he know that she had an undeniable crush on him . . . pointy ear cartilage and all? Was that why he was telling her his whole life's story? To mess with her head?

She felt her teeth dig into the flesh of her bottom lip. Was there a possibility that she had been figured out? She had made sure that she kept everything locked up to herself. Even if that meant being mean to him. She regretted it, sure, whenever that look of dejection crossed onto his face. But, that was why she was the way she was. So that he wouldn't have leverage to hurt her in the future.

The entire day. She had spent the entire day with the boy to soften the blow of her rudely walking out on him last night. He seemed to have forgotten all about it, but it was unlikely for that to happen. He was a man of his word, and if she had made him feel rejected yesterday, it was going to carry on into today . . . he was just going to make sure that no one knew.

"Are you sure about this?"

Her gaze trailed up from her shoes to the boy walking beside her. Hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans, his eyebrows were furrowed past the point of no return, waiting for her to answer.

After cram school, Yukio suggested the idea of pages linking up with the exwires to get a head start on the Exwire Authorization Test. Pages had scrambled around the room in search of one of the few exwires to help them out. Miwa, in particular, looked completely stumped when a girl walked up to him for help. Asaki had marched off with Izumo in the swarm of bodies. Ryuji was declining students left and right. It was of no shock to anyone that Nami and Rin gathered their things and walked out of class together. It was a message unspoken. With a silent glance, she knew that they were going to partner up.

But now, he was asking permission. It was a bit odd to hear someone like him asking if their actions were okay. When they left the classroom, he had looked so set on helping her—it was almost pointless for her to refuse. It was as if she had turned him down, he would have went along with her anyways. Not this time. His face—eyes held steady and bottom lip jutting out the tiniest amount—held reluctance . . . most likely because she had been rude to him last night.

Nami sucked in a breath. "Might as well. We're already there," she tried.

He simply nodded as the sight of the dormitory came into view. Four stories high, painted a tan-brown colour, and ridden with students hanging around the front, her dorm building wasn't the most quiet place ever. Girls walked in and out of the open double doors. A few of them were laughing so loud that she could have heard them miles away. Three boys and a girl walked in when the two of them reached the front entrance. Just like her, everyone else must not have cared about the **NO BOYS IN THE GIRLS' DORMITORIES AFTER EIGHT O'CLOCK** rule. Though it was only six, those boys looked like they weren't going anywhere.

She would have rather studied at Rin's dorm building. It was quiet save for the two demon creatures running about. Yukio never really came home until late due to his job as a teacher. Because of that, that would have meant that she and him would have had the who building to themselves again. The silence could have helped her study. But no, she pulled the doors of her building open to reveal girls lounging around like they had nothing better to do with their lives.

She went up the stairs with him following behind as if he would get lost any second. It was highly unlikely since he was bigger than everyone here. Though, she gave him the benefit of the doubt, making sure he was close before she weaved through the mass of teenage girls. He muttered an apology when he bumped into a girl with glasses.

Room six-six-seven was at the very end of the hall. Being on the fourth floor, she could no longer hear the stomping of feet above the ceiling. Her fingers fumbled to get the key inside of the lock, but paused when she saw a pair of red eyes watching her. She could see Izumo staring at her through the corner of her eye. It had almost began to become an everyday occurrence. The girl's dorm, the one she shared with her short-haired brunette friend, was right across the hall from hers. Purple hair pulled up into a tight bun and the tan uniform vest pulled off, she narrowed her eyes at the two of them.

Rin's eyebrows shot up in confusion. "What?" he asked the girl. She let out a scoff before disappearing back into her room, giving Nami a glimpse of her cousin sitting in the room. Rin let out a whistle when the door closed behind her. "Well, okay then . . ."

What was her problem? Why did it always appear as if Izumo had a thing against her. Nonetheless, Nami pushed open the door, and let the boy into her room for the first time ever. She was suddenly self-conscious. What if he seen something embarrassing? Her eyes scanned the area over. Asaki's side was as neat as always, girly nicknacks scattered throughout her space like a child's toys. Nami's side, however, was clean . . . except for the blankets tossed around her bed. It looked like a tornado had hit it. She glanced up to see him staring at it. Was he going to judge her? As if reading her mind, he suddenly let out an obnoxious laugh.

It was then did it hit her. She was worried about the same guy who had days old jeans lying around his floor thinking her room was messy. Where was the logic in that?

He walked further into the room to look out of her window. "So, how are we going to do this?"

"I don't know," she said truthfully, closing the door behind them. Her mattress squeaked when she plopped down on it. The first thing she was was take off her thigh highs. It was out of habit. "You're my tutor. I thought you had a plan all figured out."

"Good point." He turned around from the window to sit criss-cross on the floor in front of her. With a shrug, he pulled the black schoolbag off of his shoulder. It was placed on the wooden floor, his hands reaching inside of it to fish out the notes for today. "We can start anywhere. As long as it's not math, we should be fine. I suck at that."

She pulled out her own notes. "Math in the Authorization Test?"

"Hush. I was just saying that in case you needed me to help you with anything else . . . which I will do . . . as long as it's not math."

"You can start by telling me what this test is about, anyways."

"Right. That would be a smart idea . . ." His sharp nails scratched at the back of his head. Would that have hurt? Would that have felt nice? She shook away the idea of him scratching her head. It wasn't necessary . . . and it was weird. Though, that didn't stop her own hand from reaching up to scratch her head. "The test is in two parts: the written one and a field test. The field test pretty much bases you on how good your teamwork skills are, so stick with your group and you should be fine. The written test on the other hand—"

"You failed it, didn't you?" she mumbled. He took his bottom lip between his teeth.

She bit back the urge to laugh at his guilty face, which was strange considering that she hardly ever laughed. Was this what being attracted to someone did? It made people on high alert. It made people nauseous. The cartoons and the stories made having an attraction to someone seem like a fairytale. Like you will smile every ten seconds and skip when you walk. That wasn't true. Crushing on someone brought on a dizzy feeling, helplessness, and more emotions than she was physically ready to put on display.

They said that it would be easy. They lied. This was the hardest thing that she had ever went through. It was more difficult than growing up without anyone to talk to. And, in all honesty, she was sort of wishing that she could go back to that rather than feeling like this.

Was it obvious that she spent most of her time wrapped up in her thoughts? She had always been the bluntly honest type of person. Now she had to think before she spoke. Just thinking about it gave her a headache. No, life in general right now gave her a headache. And to think, none of this inner destruction would be happening if it weren't for him asking for a pencil that day. It felt like so long ago. It felt like she had been stuck in this loop for years now.

The sound of snapping fingers pulled her out of her thoughts. Her attention focused again, aiming directly at the black-haired boy staring at her in confusion. He ran a tongue over his elongated canines before smirking the tiniest bit. She shot him a glare. What was he smirking at? What was so amusing to him? Had he caught her escaping into her own mind?

"Hmm . . . You're such an interesting cow," he mused. Nami wanted to scowl. There was that word again. It had been days since he had called her that, but it felt like it happened every day. He let out a heavy breath. "Chop, chop. We have work to do, Nami. Or do you want me to leave and let you fail the test by yourself?"

"You wouldn't do that," she teased. God, what was going on? She was _teasing_ him?

Instead of threatening about how he would like she thought he was going to do, he blinked at her. Three times. Hours seemed to pass before he ran another hand through his messy hair. "There goes that damn face again," he grumbled. What face? Why was he always talking about a face? Endless amounts of questions were running through her head. It was probably due to the fact that the boy made her question her sanity. "Do you have a hair clip?"

Nodding, she stood up and walked over to her dresser. She didn't ask why he needed a hair clip. Her hands fished through her drawers to retrieve the item. Once it was found, she passed it over to him, sitting back on her bed next to her work. He put it in his hair. His fingers combed through his inky strands until they were pulled back, clipping the clip there so that they wouldn't hang in his eyes like usual. It allowed her to see his face better. She could make out the ultra long eyelashes framing his eyes now. Jeez . . . he was trying to kill her.

"All right. Now we can get to work." He clapped his hands together to show false enthusiasm. Then, pointing a long finger at her, he put on his best talk show host voice. "Hirasawa Nami, give me a general break down of demons—"

She cut him off with a raise of my hand. "Rin?"

His eyebrows raised. "Huh?" he answered. His talk show voice was thrown out of the window. It was now replaced by wonder.

"Yesterday you told Yukio that I make a certain face," she started. She wasn't too sure if she wanted to know the answer to this. But, her curiosity was getting the best of her. "And you said it just now. What are you talking about? Do I make an ugly face or something?"

Once again, his reaction wasn't expected. He snickered at her. "Ugly face? Not even close. Your bottom lip pouts out and your eyebrows furrow right here—" He reached over to jab his index finger right between her eyebrows, "—it's the perfect puppy dog face. You can get people to do whatever you want them to like that. It's a weapon that should be illegal, really."

Maybe she was looking too much into it, but had he just sort of called her non-ugly? Was that a compliment? Or was he saying that he would rather have had her look ugly than the way she did now? Either way it went, she didn't know, and she sure as hell wasn't going to ask.

"I make the puppy dog face?"

"You don't know that you're doing it?" He sounded genuinely shocked.

And that was it. Though she wanted to put it off for as long as possible—being the lazy person she was—she knew that she couldn't. She sat there and let him tell her bits of information that she tried her hardest to hold on to. Rin always claimed that he didn't know a lot of things, but when it came to this stuff, he had it wrapped around his finger. Or, at least, that's what it looked like to her. He probably could have sat there for hours to tell her everything he knew. And he might have if it weren't for the fact that he was only a exwire, and didn't know far too much himself.

She noticed how his toned changed with each subject he spoke about. When it was concerning peaceful demons, he spoke like a kid gushing about his older siblings. When it came to the meaner ones, his tone was dripped in acid. She could tell if it was good or bad by simply looking at the gleam in his eye. The look of someone who was passionate about something. He must really wanted to be an exorcist.

First came the filling-in of facts. Second came the notes. Then came the quiz. She was surprised; he actually quizzed her. There was no kidding around. He did exactly what he came here to do. It was a relief, yet a bit of a disappointment to her. When she imagined him coming over, she imagined him making a ruckus and searching through all of her things. But no, he sat there with his hair pulled back, still and quiet, and made sure she did, too.

When she got restless, he would give her this look. It was the look a mother would give to a misbehaving child. It was a look that screamed 'sit down and pay attention.' Not that she minded. He was making sure she passed this test, and she couldn't complain about that.

"Did you practice holding your gun?" he asked.

She looked up from the pile of notes that she was surrounded in. Her floor was littered in papers written on the fronts and the backs. The setting sun was no longer beaming through the window. Instead, the light from the full moon was shining inside. Stars and gray clouds accompanied it, filling in the dark sky. The chatter of teenage girls throughout the halls the dorm had died down to a small buzz every now and then. Sneaking a quick glance at his phone beside him, she read the time. It was seven forty-five.

To be fair, the last time she had even picked up a gun was when she fired Yukio's last night. He seemed to be able to tell because he let out a sigh. Was she supposed to be practicing with it every day? She didn't know these things. She barely knew how to squeeze a trigger.

Rin started gathering up his pile of papers. That meant that their study session was coming to an end. Good. She was getting sleepy. "You know that your gun is bigger and heavier than Yukio's, right? It's not the same thing. He was just teaching you posture and how to squeeze a trigger," he tried. Nami shrugged; she didn't know any better. He sighed again. "Go get it. You're gonna have to learn how to work that thing if you want to pass the field test."

He was right. She should have known better. She didn't know why she thought shooting Yukio's gun for all of forty minutes was going to solve her problems. Getting up, she reached into the space between her mattress and the wall to get her weapon, pulling it out. Rin stood up and unzipped the black case. In sat the rifle, surrounded by ammo packs, magazines, and a giant warning label. For someone who was scared out of their mind when she and Yukio were shooting yesterday, he clearly didn't have a problem yanking it out. With a pull of one the levers, the ammo pack fell out. A thick, golden bullet tumbled out of the barrel as well. The thing was loaded this whole time. Did he know that?

He waved the gun toward her. "Here."

Oh. He wanted her to do this now. She pried it from his hands to show that she wasn't backing down to a challenge. As soon as it was in her grip, she felt her knees almost buckle from the sudden weight. It felt as it the weapon had gained ten pounds since the last time she held it. She pointed it like she had pointed Yukio's gun last night. But, this time, her arms were wobbling all over the place.

Rin snorted. "This is so sad," he teased.

"Oh, shut up. This thing is heavy."

"That's because you're holding it wrong."

Then she felt it. The immediate warmth that his body seemed to radiate when he was close enough for her to feel it. Hands moved over her arms, causing goosebumps to rise on the skin. He was standing behind her. She could tell by the sound of him breathing next to her ear. The familiar tingling sensation swarmed her cheeks. She wasn't going to risk him seeing her blushing by turning around.

"You put this part in your _shoulder_. You see that? It's shaped like a _shoulder_." He made it sound like he was speaking to a four-year-old. In that moment, Nami couldn't have cared less. She let him tuck the rifle into the right position. It it weren't for the fact that she was still reeling from when he held her hand last weekend, she wouldn't have did it. Any contact was better than none. Especially since she didn't know when the next one was coming . . . if it was going to come. "Put your eye on the scope. See that dot in the middle? That's where you're aiming. Got it?"

She nodded. "Aye, aye, Captain," she answered. It was almost as if she could feel him rolling his eyes behind her.

"Yukio said this thing has a lot of power, so you're gonna want to grip it as tight as you can." She could feel him leaning closer. So close that his breath was right on her ear. Her face grew even hotter. Was he doing this on purpose? "Hold your arms steady or it'll fly up when you shoot. I'd feel bad if I gave you something that eventually blew your hand off."

This thing could blow her hands off? She was rethinking the whole rifle situation.

"How do you know all this?" she murmured.

"The way everyone else learned. Video games." Nami felt him shrug against her back. Video games. Of course. She rolled her eyes at his answer. "Now put your finger on the trigger, and . . ."

The whole scenario was stressful. If her hair already hadn't been white, she was sure that he would have just given her a few snowy strands. He was so close. Close enough for her to smell the mint laced into his breaths. She wanted nothing more than to shove him away from her, but, deep down—way deep—she knew that was the last thing that she wanted. Her walls were trying to stand their ground . . . but he was good at jumping over them.

She didn't know what she had been expecting. Whatever it was, it stopped her from breathing, her lungs filling up with air she was too afraid to release. Would he keep her in his arms like this for a while longer? Even if her guard was begging him not to? Suddenly, his warmth was gone, and replaced by a sharp slap on her back. She flinched. Him hitting her wasn't what she imagined at all.

"Bang! They're dead. You did it—high five!"

Her head slowly turned to see if he was serious or not. Sure enough, he was holding up an awaiting palm. He had got her heart racing for nothing. Green eyes narrowed at blue ones. Nonetheless, she slapped her hand against his, making him give her a wide grin. Talk about anticlimatic.

He picked his phone up off of the floor. With the swipe of a thumb, three large numbers flashed across the screen. "It's eight o'clock," he announced. She knew what that meant. It was time for him to leave. If he stayed any longer, he would run the risk of him getting caught. If he was caught sneaking out of the girls' dormitories after eight o'clock . . . it wouldn't look too pretty. "Time to go before they try to suspend me again."

Again?

A look of confusion twisted onto her face as he put his notebook back into his bag. He was suspended before? She had never pictured kind Okumura Pointy-Ears to be the type to get in serious trouble. But, she chose not to ask. It was a question that could come up tomorrow. He'd tell her. He told her everything else.

"Do you know your way out?" she asked when he started for the door. He nodded, gripping onto the silver handle. Before he left, there was one more thing she had to know. "Rin, wait," she called. He stopped to look down at her. "Was the field test easier for you?"

For the first time since she met him, he looked speechless. His mouth opened to answer her question, only for it to shut seconds later. That wasn't a good sign. That meant that he had some complications during his Exwire Authorization Exam.

Settling on an answer, he replied, "Just rely on Asaki. You'll be fine. And if you're ever not fine, just call me."

"Thanks, but I don't think you can make personal calls during a test."

"Hey, you can if you sneak into a bush." He shrugged. With that, he pulled the door open. "'Night."

"Goodnight." Nami waved. She watched him walk out into the hallway, the red katana case slung over his shoulder like it always was. When he was down the stairs, she let out a silent groan. Damn, it happened again. She let him get to her. She let him see a side of her that she would lock away forever. She had let him see her caring. "Damn it . . ."

"I never thought I'd see the day."

Nami's head turned in search of the source of the voice. Asaki stood against the door frame of Izumo's room. She must have just finished studying, too. Her arms were folded over her chest. Her blonde ponytail swayed behind her in an accusing way. Well, more like her demeanor itself was very accusing.

Nami's eyebrows furrowed. "See the day what?"

"The day that this happened. You like Rin-kun, don't you?" Asaki asked.

Nami scrunched up her nose. It was more because she had just called him 'Rin-kun' than being accused of crushing. But, then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Asaki knew how she felt. Was it that obvious? Her previous look of irritation shifted into one of complete loathing. Who else knew that she liked him? Did _he_ know that she liked him? Was that why he was being so nice to her? Pity friendliness?

"I don't like him, Asaki," she mumbled. She rolled her eyes, walking back into their dorm with the blonde right behind her. "I don't. I hardly like anyone."

* * *

 **Hello, everyone! I apologize for taking so long to update. I moved to a new house and it was hard to get my inspiration flowing again because of the change of scenery. But now I'm okay, and I'm ready to write!**

 **~ Insane**


	10. Announcement

**Hello! Long time, no see!**

 **First, I want to apologize for seemingly abandoning this story. I just lost inspiration for a while. But, I've got it back! Don't worry. This is me telling you that this story _will_ be completed. I'll be updating a chapter again sometime next week. That gives me time to re-watch the show because I've been entirely cut off from it for, like, a year. **

**Nothing saddens me more than when I'm reading a good story and it just . . . stops.**

 **Sorry if you thought this was an update. It will be updated. I just wanted to let you guys know ahead of time because there are a lot of people upset about its "discontinuation." :) See you next week.**

 **~ Insane**


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